Panic Symptoms- Slow, Steady Rise After Stressor
Instead of an immediate, acute reaction, stressful life events (SLEs) in patients with panic disorder (PD) can cause a gradual, but steady, increase in panic symptoms over time, new research suggests. Investigators at Brown University note they expected to find that panic symptoms would spike immediately after a stressful event and then taper off, but this was not the case. In analysis of more than 400 patients with PD and panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA) from the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Research Program (HARP) study, panic symptoms worsened progressively over 3 months after participants experienced specific SLEs, including serious family discord or being fired.
"What this study tells clinicians is that they need to be aware that, although people may have an immediate reaction, be vigilant in keeping track of how patients are doing over the next few months after the event, and perhaps even longer," said Dr. Moitra.
The study was published online June 11 in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
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