Ambulatory Monitoring of Sleep-Related Panic Attacks

Abstract

Panic attacks are sudden surges of anxiety accompanied by somatic symptoms such as palpitations, dyspnea, or dizziness [1]. The attacks often occur unexpectedly and unpredictably, that is, in the absence of any perceived situational triggers. Some panic attacks even arise while patients are sleeping. Mellman et al. [7] investigated the prevalence of panic attacks occurring during sleep in 46 patients with panic disorder. Of these patients 69% reported a lifetime history of sleep-related panic attacks and 4% experienced panic attacks during sleep as frequently as or more often than daytime attacks. Sleep-related panic attacks might represent a common but poorly understood form of spontaneous panic attacks. It is unclear to what degree the phenomenology of these attacks is similar to panic attacks arising while patients are awake.