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.

A state of extreme acute, intense anxiety and unreasoning fear accompanied by disorganization of personality function.

Obsessive, persistent, intense fear of open places.

L-Tryptophyl-L-methionyl-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalaninamide. The C-terminal tetrapeptide of gastrin. It is the smallest peptide fragment of gastrin which has the same physiological and pharmacological activity as gastrin.

The sodium salt of racemic or inactive lactic acid. It is a hygroscopic agent used intravenously as a systemic and urinary alkalizer.

A triazolobenzodiazepine compound with antianxiety and sedative-hypnotic actions, that is efficacious in the treatment of PANIC DISORDERS, with or without AGORAPHOBIA, and in generalized ANXIETY DISORDERS. (From AMA Drug Evaluations Annual, 1994, p238)

Persistent and disabling ANXIETY.

Anxiety disorders in which the essential feature is persistent and irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that the individual feels compelled to avoid. The individual recognizes the fear as excessive or unreasonable.

An anticonvulsant used for several types of seizures, including myotonic or atonic seizures, photosensitive epilepsy, and absence seizures, although tolerance may develop. It is seldom effective in generalized tonic-clonic or partial seizures. The mechanism of action appears to involve the enhancement of GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID receptor responses.

An inhibitor of glutamate decarboxylase and an antagonist of GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID. It is used to induce convulsions in experimental animals.

Standardized procedures utilizing rating scales or interview schedules carried out by health personnel for evaluating the degree of mental illness.

A direct form of psychotherapy based on the interpretation of situations (cognitive structure of experiences) that determine how an individual feels and behaves. It is based on the premise that cognition, the process of acquiring knowledge and forming beliefs, is a primary determinant of mood and behavior. The therapy uses behavioral and verbal techniques to identify and correct negative thinking that is at the root of the aberrant behavior.

Agents that alleviate ANXIETY, tension, and ANXIETY DISORDERS, promote sedation, and have a calming effect without affecting clarity of consciousness or neurologic conditions. ADRENERGIC BETA-ANTAGONISTS are commonly used in the symptomatic treatment of anxiety but are not included here.

Feeling or emotion of dread, apprehension, and impending disaster but not disabling as with ANXIETY DISORDERS.

Anxiety experienced by an individual upon separation from a person or object of particular significance to the individual.

A pulmonary ventilation rate faster than is metabolically necessary for the exchange of gases. It is the result of an increased frequency of breathing, an increased tidal volume, or a combination of both. It causes an excess intake of oxygen and the blowing off of carbon dioxide.

Categorical classification of MENTAL DISORDERS based on criteria sets with defining features. It is produced by the American Psychiatric Association. (DSM-IV, page xxii)

A method for extinguishing anxiety by a saturation exposure to the feared stimulus situation or its substitute.

A form of psychiatric treatment, based on Freudian principles, which seeks to eliminate or diminish the undesirable effects of unconscious conflicts by making the patient aware of their existence, origin, and inappropriate expression in current emotions and behavior.

The affective response to an actual current external danger which subsides with the elimination of the threatening condition.

Defense mechanisms involving approach and avoidance responses to threatening stimuli. The sensitizing process involves intellectualization in approaching or controlling the stimulus whereas repression involves unconscious denial in avoiding the stimulus.

A serotonin uptake inhibitor that is effective in the treatment of depression.

A class of traumatic stress disorders with symptoms that last more than one month. There are various forms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depending on the time of onset and the duration of these stress symptoms. In the acute form, the duration of the symptoms is between 1 to 3 months. In the chronic form, symptoms last more than 3 months. With delayed onset, symptoms develop more than 6 months after the traumatic event.

The presence of co-existing or additional diseases with reference to an initial diagnosis or with reference to the index condition that is the subject of study. Comorbidity may affect the ability of affected individuals to function and also their survival; it may be used as a prognostic indicator for length of hospital stay, cost factors, and outcome or survival.

The number of times an organism breathes with the lungs (RESPIRATION) per unit time, usually per minute.

A disorder characterized by incomplete arousals from sleep associated with behavior suggesting extreme fright. This condition primarily affects children and young adults and the individual generally has no recall of the event. Episodes tend to occur during stage III or IV. SOMNAMBULISM is frequently associated with this condition. (Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p391)

The prototypical tricyclic antidepressant. It has been used in major depression, dysthymia, bipolar depression, attention-deficit disorders, agoraphobia, and panic disorders. It has less sedative effect than some other members of this therapeutic group.

Check list, usually to be filled out by a person about himself, consisting of many statements about personal characteristics which the subject checks.

Automatic, mechanical, and apparently undirected behavior which is outside of conscious control.

Substances that contain a fused three-ring moiety and are used in the treatment of depression. These drugs block the uptake of norepinephrine and serotonin into axon terminals and may block some subtypes of serotonin, adrenergic, and histamine receptors. However the mechanism of their antidepressant effects is not clear because the therapeutic effects usually take weeks to develop and may reflect compensatory changes in the central nervous system.

Diseases of the respiratory system in general or unspecified or for a specific respiratory disease not available.

Disorders having the presence of physical symptoms that suggest a general medical condition but that are not fully explained by a another medical condition, by the direct effects of a substance, or by another mental disorder. The symptoms must cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning. In contrast to FACTITIOUS DISORDERS and MALINGERING, the physical symptoms are not under voluntary control. (APA, DSM-V)

Compounds that specifically inhibit the reuptake of serotonin in the brain.