panic disorder

Panic disorder is where you have recurring and regular panic attacks, often for no obvious reason. Everyone experiences feelings of anxiety and panic at certain times during their lifetime. It is a perfectly natural response, particularly when you are in a dangerous or stressful situation. However, for people with panic disorder, feelings of anxiety, stress and panic occur regularly and at any time.

Our panic disorder Blogs

Cyberbullying and mental health in young people

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Elly O’Brien summarises a recent US survey of adolescents, which investigates the relationship between cyberbullying, mental health and substance use problems, and the moderating role of family dinners.

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How do we make a diagnosis? Screening tools for anxiety disorders

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Josephine Neale blogs about a systematic review of screening tools for anxiety disorders, which concludes that the GAD-7 and PHQ instruments are appropriate for use in primary care.

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Meta-review presents the risks of all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders

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This recent and well-conducted meta-review concludes that the impact on mortality and suicide of mental disorders is substantial, and probably poorly appreciated as a public health problem. Raphael Underwood’s blog summarises the data for all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders.

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Bridging the gap: low intensity collaborative care for patients with recent cardiac events can improve mental health and quality of life

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There are many interfaces in mental health services, such as the one between physical and mental health. Where there are interfaces, there are inevitably gaps for patients to fall through. Consequently opportunities are missed to treat mental health problems in those with physical health problems. There is mounting evidence for the effectiveness of Collaborative Care (CC) [read the full story…]

CBT is more cost-effective than SSRI alone as treatment for panic disorder

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In addition to its impact on quality of life, panic disorder can have a number of costly consequences such as lost productivity – particularly if also associated with agoraphobia. Cost-effectiveness is therefore an important consideration in choosing the optimal treatment for panic disorder, which might improve value via the cost side of the equation. A recent [read the full story…]

Moving to better neighbourhoods: bad for boys, good for girls?

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The link between external influences such as family and neighbourhood experiences and young people’s mental health outcomes has been extensively commented on in the literature. While it is more common for studies to focus on the individual or family level, looking at things from a wider perspective is interesting especially from a public mental health [read the full story…]

Patients with anxiety disorders are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and actions, says recent review

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Suicidal thoughts and actions are typically discussed in relation to depression, but a number of studies have suggested suicide may also be linked to anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders often co-occur with depression, and this may be masking a risk of suicide specifically related to anxiety. Today is World Suicide Prevention Day so it seemed relevant [read the full story…]

New evidence update from NICE on common mental disorders

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The NICE guideline on common mental disorders (PDF) was published back in May 2011, which means that it only included evidence published up until the end of 2010. This is a fast moving field, so NICE have now put out an evidence update, which focuses on new evidence published from Sept 2010 to Oct 2012. This [read the full story…]

Does self-help treatment for anxiety disorders work?

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Many people struggle with anxiety disorders such as panic disorder, social phobia, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Moreover, about 30% of us have an anxiety disorder at some point in our life (Kessler et al 2005) but most people never receive treatment. Self-help interventions may provide a solution when people are unable or unwilling to [read the full story…]

Over 40% of US teenagers experience a mental health disorder in any 12 month period

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This new cross sectional study from researchers at Harvard Medical School looks at the prevalence of DSM-IV disorders in over 10,000 teenagers living in the community. The study looked at a representative sample of young people. Homeless adolescents, school drop-outs and non-English speakers were excluded from the research, even though those who speak a different [read the full story…]