Psychiatry and Psychology

Panic Disorder

A type of anxiety disorder characterized by unexpected panic attacks that last minutes or, rarely, hours. Panic attacks begin with intense apprehension, fear or terror and, often, a feeling of impending doom. Symptoms experienced during a panic attack include dyspnea or sensations of being smothered; dizziness, loss of balance or faintness; choking sensations; palpitations or accelerated heart rate; shakiness; sweating; nausea or other form of abdominal distress; depersonalization or derealization; paresthesias; hot flashes or chills; chest discomfort or pain; fear of dying and fear of not being in control of oneself or going crazy. Agoraphobia may also develop. Similar to other anxiety disorders, it may be inherited as an autosomal dominant trait.

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

A type of anxiety disorder characterized by unexpected panic attacks that last minutes or, rarely, hours. Panic attacks begin with intense apprehension, fear or terror and, often, a feeling of impending doom. Symptoms experienced during a panic attack include dyspnea or sensations of being smothered; dizziness, loss of balance or faintness; choking sensations; palpitations or accelerated heart rate; shakiness; sweating; nausea or other form of abdominal distress; depersonalization or derealization; paresthesias; hot flashes or chills; chest discomfort or pain; fear of dying and fear of not being in control of oneself or going crazy. Agoraphobia may also develop. Similar to other anxiety disorders, it may be inherited as an autosomal dominant trait.

MeSH Record

Classification

Broader headings

Related Concepts

Knowledge Graph

Loading graph…

Drag nodes to rearrange; hover to trace links; click a node to open its page.

MeSH Record

Synonyms

7 entry terms
  • Disorder, Panic
  • Disorders, Panic
  • Panic Disorders
  • Panic Attacks
  • Attack, Panic
  • Attacks, Panic
  • Panic Attack

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

31 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings blood, cerebrospinal fluid, chemically induced, classification, complications, diagnosis, diagnostic imaging, diet therapy, drug therapy, economics, enzymology, epidemiology, ethnology, etiology, genetics, history, immunology, metabolism, microbiology, mortality, nursing, parasitology, pathology, physiopathology, prevention & control, psychology, rehabilitation, surgery, therapy, urine, virology.

MeSH Record

Indexing Annotation

note category: do not confuse with PANIC (Cat F1)

MeSH Record

History Note

92

MeSH Record

Previous Indexing

  • Anxiety Disorders (1978-1991)
  • Fear (1978-1991)
  • Panic (1978-1991)

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Number

  1. F03w.080w.700w

MeSH Record

NLM Classification

WM 172

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Panic Disorder. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D016584. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D016584
  2. Panic Disorder. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_disorder
  3. Panic Disorder. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q741713