Eur Psychiatry. 1998;13 Suppl 2:51s-5s. doi: 10.1016/S0924-9338(98)80014-X.
Panic has not always been recognised as an exclusively psychiatric condition. Research in this area continued along separate medical and psychological axes until 1980, when the development of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-III criteria established the overall concept of panic disorder. The lifetime prevalence of DSM-III panic disorder and repeated panic attacks, defined as the average of individual estimates from six studies, are 2.7% and 7.1% of the general population, respectively. Females are almost twice as likely as males to suffer panic disorder, and about seven times as likely to suffer repeated panic attacks. Overall, panic disorder or panic attacks occur in up to one in ten of the general population. The prevalence of panic disorder and panic attacks, their associations with other conditions, and their time courses have been investigated in a prospective epidemiological study in Zurich, Switzerland, in which 591 individuals were followed for 15 years. The validity of panic disorder and panic attacks as genuine psychological phenomena are attested to by their positive associations with a family history of panic disorder, elevated risk of suicide, lifetime treatment for psychiatric disorders, and especially treatment with prescribed medication and substantial work and social impairment. Strong comorbidity exists between panic states and other psychiatric conditions, including depression (major depression, bipolar disorder and recurrent brief depression), agoraphobia, social phobia, specific phobia, and obsessive-compulsive disease. A lower degree of comorbidity is seen with alcohol and tobacco dependence. Comorbid conditions usually precede panic, except for alcohol abuse, which is usually secondary to episodes of panic. The prognosis of panic states is often optimistic, and chronic disease is present in less than half of sufferers. Both panic disorder and repeated panic attacks are common, serious and disabling conditions. Effective diagnosis and treatment of repeated panic attacks and panic disorder are of equal importance.
恐慌并不总是被认为是一种纯粹的精神疾病。在这一领域的研究沿着医学和心理学的不同方向继续进行，直到 1980 年，《诊断与统计手册》（DSM）第三版标准的发展确立了恐慌症的总体概念。DSM-III 恐慌症和反复发作性恐慌的终身患病率，定义为六项研究个体估计的平均值，分别为普通人群的 2.7%和 7.1%。女性患恐慌症的可能性几乎是男性的两倍，患反复发作性恐慌的可能性是男性的七倍。总的来说，恐慌症或恐慌发作在普通人群中高达十分之一。在瑞士苏黎世进行的一项前瞻性流行病学研究中，对恐慌症和恐慌发作的患病率、它们与其他疾病的关系及其时间进程进行了调查，该研究共对 591 人进行了 15 年的随访。恐慌症和恐慌发作作为真正的心理现象的有效性，体现在它们与恐慌症家族史、自杀风险升高、精神障碍的终身治疗，尤其是规定药物治疗和大量工作和社交障碍的积极关联。恐慌状态与其他精神疾病之间存在强烈的共病，包括抑郁症（重度抑郁症、双相情感障碍和复发性短暂性抑郁症）、广场恐惧症、社交恐惧症、特定恐惧症和强迫症。与酒精和烟草依赖的共病程度较低。除了酒精滥用，通常继发于恐慌发作外，其他共病通常先于恐慌状态。恐慌状态的预后通常较为乐观，不到一半的患者患有慢性疾病。恐慌症和反复发作性恐慌都是常见的、严重的和致残的疾病。有效诊断和治疗反复发作性恐慌和恐慌症同等重要。
