Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:235-238
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
Social phobic symptoms in patients with panic disorder: practical and theoretical implications
MB Stein, CA Shea and TW Uhde
Unit on Anxiety and Affective Disorders, NIMH, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Of 35 patients with DSM-III-R diagnoses of panic disorder, 16 also received
diagnoses of social phobia, and 15 of these 16 reported past episodes of
major depression. Only nine of the 19 panic patients without social phobia
had histories of depression. The panic patients with histories of
depression had significantly higher self-ratings of social anxiety and
avoidance, but not agoraphobic fear and avoidance, than those without
histories of depression. Panic disorder and social phobia may coexist in
many cases, and the presence of social phobia may be associated with a
higher morbid risk for major depression in this population.
