Panic Disorder

Panic disorder (PD) is a relatively common anxiety disorder marked by recurrent, often unexpected panic attacks, which are typically described as surges of rapid-developing fear in a crescendo pattern. The nature of attacks in PD are heterogeneous, but are generally marked by palpitations, chest pain or pressure, dyspnea, and cognitive, neurological, or gastrointestinal symptoms. Besides the discrete attacks, marked anticipatory anxiety about having future attacks, behavioral avoidance of situations which might provoke attacks (such as bridges, elevators, enclosed spaces), and psychological concerns about ‘going crazy’ or ‘losing one’s mind’ are commonly observed. Lifetime prevalence estimates are 22.7% for panic attacks, 3.7% for PD without agoraphobia, and 1.1% for PD with agoraphobia. Herein, we review the clinical features of PD, the neurobiology of PD, and therapies presently available for PD.