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Panic Disorder

  • Chapter
Anxiety Disorders and Gender

Abstract

Like other anxiety disorders, panic disorder (PD) with/without agoraphobia is more frequent in women than in men. Identification of the psychosocial contributors to and biological substrates of gender-specific susceptibility for PD may allow a better understanding of the etiology of anxiety disorders in general and would have important implications for prevention, assessment, and treatment of the disorder.

Among psychosocial contributors, childhood sexual abuse and chronic stressors in adult life have been discussed as possible reasons for a higher prevalence of panic disorder in women. Several neurotransmitter systems, including serotonin and glutamate, as well as CO2 sensitivity, which are possibly involved in the etiology of panic disorder have been investigated with regard to their gender specificity. Some data suggest that female reproductive hormones are involved, as periods of fluctuating levels of estrogen and progesterone have been linked to increase or decrease of panic symptomatology. Several genetic studies point to sexual dimorphism, particularly regarding the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) genes.

Gender differences have been identified in the pharmacokinetics of psychotropic medication; however, it is unclear whether these differences affect treatment outcome. When treating panic disorder during pregnancy and lactation, a number of safety considerations have to be taken into account.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Göttingen, von-Siebold-Str. 5, Göttingen, D-37075, Germany

    Borwin Bandelow

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Germany, Würzburg, Germany

    Katharina Domschke

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  1. Borwin Bandelow
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Correspondence to Borwin Bandelow .

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  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

    Dan J. Stein

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

    Bavi Vythilingum

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Bandelow, B., Domschke, K. (2015). Panic Disorder. In: Stein, D., Vythilingum, B. (eds) Anxiety Disorders and Gender. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13060-6_2

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