Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:1204-1207
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
Sleep panic attacks: new clinical findings and theoretical implications
TA Mellman and TW Uhde
Section on Anxiety and Affective Disorders, NIMH, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Forty-five panic disorder patients and 26 normal control subjects were
surveyed regarding their histories of sleep panic attacks, insomnia, and
vulnerability to exogenous panic stimuli. Sixty-nine percent (N = 31) of
the patients reported having experienced sleep panic at some time in their
lives, and 33% (N = 15) of the patients experienced recurrent sleep panic.
The implications of these findings for the management of panic disorder are
discussed.
