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Panic Attacks: New Approaches to an Old Problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

M. G. Gelder
M. G. Gelder*
Affiliation:
Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX
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Abstract

Anxiety attacks were included in the first descriptions of the syndrome of anxiety neurosis. Recently it has been suggested that such attacks (now usually called panic attacks) characterize a distinct form of anxiety disorder—panic disorder, it has also been proposed that panic attacks result from a biochemical disorder and require pharmacological treatment. Some of the evidence for these ideas is presented, and two other explanations for panic attacks are reviewed: that they are caused by hyperventilation, and that they result from a cognitive disorder. It is concluded that although it is not possible on the present evidence to choose between the three theories, there is strong indirect support for the cognitive theory and good reason to investigate cognitive factors more thoroughly. Future work on biochemical causes of, and pharmacological treatments for panic attacks should take account of such factors.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 149 , Issue 3 , September 1986 , pp. 346 - 352
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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