Perceiving Panic Panic Disorder and Comorbid Medical Conditions

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Abstract

Panic Disorder (PD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by periods of intense and uncontrollable fear, often referred to as panic attacks. PD is developed through exposure to panic attacks that lead to anxiety and worry about future panic attacks. A vital component of PD is the physical nature of the panic symptoms. For this reason, comorbid medical conditions are important to analyze. There may be overlap between the symptoms of an individual’s PD and medical conditions, or they may exacerbate each other. Individuals with PD are often more receptive to interoceptive cues. Consequently, individuals with PD are more likely to interpret these interoceptive cues as signals of a medical condition. This review will focus on the relationship between PD and medical conditions and analyze the prevalence of comorbidity. There has been research on PD comorbidity with respiratory disorders (Alice E. Meuret, Kroll, & Ritz, 2017; Muller, Koen, & Stein, 2005), seizure disorder (Muller et al., 2005), Kluver-Bucy syndrome (Muller et al., 2005), mitral valve prolapse (Filho et al., 2011; Gulpek et al., 2004; Muller et al., 2005), cardiovascular disease (Alice E. Meuret et al., 2017; Roy-Byrne et al., 2008), irritable bowel syndrome (Alice E. Meuret et al., 2017; Roy-Byrne et al., 2008) and other gastrointestinal disorders (Stasi et al., 2017), diabetes (Alice E. Meuret et al., 2017), fibromyalgia (Carta et al., 2018), joint hypermobility (Garcia-Campayo, Asso, & Alda, 2011; Gulpek et al., 2004), and asthma (Roy-Byrne et al., 2008). Understanding the relationship between PD and these medical conditions is vital for diagnosis and treatment.

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Section
Psychology