| Prevalence |
Up to 3% of people worldwide will experience panic disorder at some point in their lives (Somers et al., 2006). However, 30% of people will experience at least one panic attack in their lives. Up to 60% of people seen by cardiologists have panic disorder. |
| Comorbidity |
About 80% of people with panic disorder will have an additional disorder (Ozkan & Altindag, 2005). The three disorders mostly commonly associated with panic disorder are depression (up to 65% of cases), agoraphobia (up to 50% of cases), and substance abuse (up to 30% of cases) (Keller & Hanks, 1994; Magee et al., 1996). Approximately 15–30% of those with panic disorder also have social anxiety disorder or GAD, and 2–20% have some other type of anxiety disorder (Goisman et al., 1995). |
| Onset |
Panic disorder is most likely to arise during young adulthood. |
| Course |
The frequency of panic attacks varies from person to person: some people get panic attacks once a week for months, others have attacks every day for a week. The frequency of panic attacks can vary over time. |
| Gender Differences |
Women are two times more likely than men to be diagnosed with panic disorder. |
| Cultural Differences |
Symptoms of panic disorder are generally similar across cultures, although people in some cultures may experience or explain the symptoms differently, such as “wind overload” among the Khmer (Hinton et al., 2002, 2003). |
| Source: Unless otherwise noted, information in the table is from American Psychiatric Association, 2013. |