Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-xq9c7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-08T07:17:15.124Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Panic and Agoraphobia: Gender as a Factor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Kimberly A. Yonkers
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Anxiety is a common experience, particularly as a response to life stressors. However, severe and uncontrollable anxiety can become a mental disorder. Community studies indicate that 19% of men and 31% of women will develop some type of anxiety disorder during their lifetime. In one such study, the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS), risk factors associated with a lifetime of anxiety disorder included lower income, less education, living in the northeast, and being female. The impact of patient sex is profound in that it increases the likelihood of developing an anxiety disorder by 85% in women compared to men.

Panic disorder is characterized by brief but intense recurrent episodes of fear or discomfort. Diagnostic criteria require recurrent panic attacks in 1 month or one panic attack with continuous fear of other attacks. Symptoms associated with the panic attack include palpitations; sweating; feeling short of breath or a choking sensation; nausea or abdominal discomfort; feeling dizzy; having a sense of unreality; numbness or tingling; chills or hot flushes; and a fear of dying or losing control.

Type
Symposium Monograph Supplement
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 9 , Issue 9 , September 2004 , pp. 6 - 7
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Kessler, R, McGonagle, K, Zhao, S, et al. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States. Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 1994;51:8–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2. Eaton, WW, Kessler, RC, Wittchen, HU, Magee, WJ. Panic and panic disorder in the United States. Am J Psychiatry. 1994;151:413–420.Google ScholarPubMed
3. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1994.Google Scholar
4. Sheikh, J, Leskin, G, Klein, D. Gender differences in panic disorder: findings from the National Comorbidity Survey. Am J Psychiatry, 2002;159: 55–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5. Papp, LA, Gorman, JM. Sex differences in panic disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 1988; 145(6):766.Google ScholarPubMed
6. Papp, L, Martinez, J, Klein, D, et al. Respiratory psychophysiology of panic disorder: three respiratory challenges in 98 subjects. Am J Psychiatry. 1997;154:1557–1565.Google ScholarPubMed
7. Lewinsohn, P, Lewinsohn, M, Gotlib, I, Seeley, J, Allen, N. Gender differences in anxiety disorders and anxiety symptoms in adolescents. J Abnormal Psychology. 1998;107(1):109–H7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. Yonkers, KA, Bruce, S, Dyck, I, Keller, M. Chronicity, relapse and illness - course of panic disorder, social phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder: Findings in men and women from 8 years of follow-up. Depress Anxiety. 2003;17:173–179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9. Hayward, C, Killen, JD, Kraemer, HC, Taylor, CB. Predictors of panic attacks in adolescents. J Am Acad Child and Adolesc Psychiatry. 2000;39(2):207–214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Starcevic, V, Djordjevic, A, Latas, M, Bogojevic, G. Characteristics of agoraphobia in women and men with panic disorder and agoraphobia. Depress Anxiety. 1998;8:8–13.3.0.CO;2-9>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Bourdon, KH, Boyd, JH, Rae, DS, Burns, BJ, Thompson, JW, Locke, BZ. Gender differences in phobias: results of the ECA community survey. J Anxiety Disord. 1988;2:227–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Turgeon, L, Marchand, A, Dupuis, G. Clinical features in panic disorder with agora-phobia: A comparison of men and women. J Anxiety Disord. 1998;12(6):539–553.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13. Bibb, JL, Chambless, DL. Alcohol use and abuse among diagnosed agoraphobics. Behav Res Ther. 1986;24(1):49–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14. Yonkers, KA, Zlotnick, C, Allsworth, J, Warshaw, M, Shea, T, Keller, MB. Is the course of panic disorder the same in women and men? Am J Psychiatry. 1998;155:596–602.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15. Cox, BJ, Swinson, RP, Shulman, ID, Kuch, K, Reichman, JT. Gender effects and alcohol use in panic disorder with agoraphobia. Behav Res Ther. 1993;31(4):413–416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed