IntroductionPanic Disorder is a common anxiety disorder that affects approximately 5% of the population at any given point in time. Because of Panic Disorder’s high rate of prevalence and its physical manifestations, there is a high economic cost to society resulting from frequent absenteeism, less work productivity, substance abuse as well as recurrent visits to emergency rooms. Recent studies have revealed that Panic Disorder is not restricted to the adult population alone. Children and adolescents are affected by Panic Disorder as well. However, Panic Disorder in children are often misdiagnosed and obscured by other presenting problems such as ADHD. This paper discusses the current understanding of children and adolescents with Panic Disorder, treatment approaches, and their efficacy.
Panic Disorder is a part of a spectrum of anxiety disorders that include Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), phobias, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Panic Disorder is a debilitating psychological and emotional disorder that is marked by a heightened sense of anxiety or panic (Dattilio, 2001; Hanisch, Hantsoo, Freeman, Sullivan & Coyne, 2008). In adults, Panic Disorder is estimated to affect anywhere from 4% (Dattilio) to 5% of the U.S. population (Roy-Byrne, Craske & Stein, 2006). In Europe, it is estimated that the spectrum of anxiety disorders that include Panic Disorder rank as the most prevalent of all mental disorders with an adult incidence of 12% per year (Andlin-Sobocki & Wittchen, 2005). In Hong Kong, the 1-year prevalence rate for Panic Disorder is 3.89% (Lee, Tsang & Kwok, 2005).
In the US, the economic cost of anxiety disorder in 1990 is estimated to be $42.3 billion or $1,542 per sufferer. Of this estimate, Panic Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) exerted the most toll (Greenberg et al., 1999). Panic Disorder is associated with an increase in the use of health care services including hospitalization, emergency room visits, medical consultations with specialists (Marciniak et al., 2005), and increase in absenteeism from the workplace and/or decline in workplace productivity (Greenberg et al.).
Further exacerbating the impact of Panic Disorder on the individual suffering from Panic Disorder and the economy, Panic Disorder can lead to maladaptive behaviors such as cigarette smoking (Zvolensky & Bernstein, 2005), alcoholism (Lotufo-Neto & Gentil, 1994) and drug abuse (Ham, Waters & Oliver, 2005; Roy-Byrne, Craske & Stein, 2006). Paradoxically, while research has found that maladaptive behavior such as cigarette smoking and alcoholism may actually contribute and at times increase the likelihood of Panic Disorder, people with Panic Disorder often do so in an attempt to alleviate symptoms of Panic Disorder or escape recurrence of panic attacks (Abrams et al., 2008; Lotufo-Neto; McLeish, Zvolensky, Bonn-Miller & Bernstein, 2006; Zvolensky).
Given the cost imposed upon by Panic Disorder on the economy (Greenberg et al., 1999), a study of possible early intervention becomes necessary to minimize the impact of Panic Disorder on the sufferer as well as on the economy. While there has been numerous research studies conducted on adults, little significant research has been conducted on the prevalence of Panic Disorder on children and adolescents. This paper proposes, therefore, to extrapolate upon research outcomes from studies conducted on the adult population and assess the applicability of known successful interventions to children and adolescents.
