Panic disorder suicide rate

The result is that panic disorder, particularly when associated with agoraphobia, confers considerable social impairment. Patients with panic disorder are less productive at work, are prone to absenteeism, are less satished in family roles, and have higher mortality and suicide rates. In addition, the physical symptoms of panic disorder are frequently misattributed to medical conditions such as emphysema or heart disease and lead to the costly and inappropriate use of emergency room and other medical services. Panic disorder is costly both from an economic and a social perspective. 

One analysis (Angst and Wicki 1993) showed agoraphobia in 2.6% of control subjects, 2.8% of subjects with major depression, 7.4% of subjects with pure panic, and 28.0% of subjects with both panic disorder and major depression. Similarly, the attempted suicide rate was 3.5% among control subjects, 5.0% in subjects with pure panic, 13.0% in subjects with depression without panic, and 28.9% in patients with both panic disorder and major depression. These data underline the importance of recognizing and treating comorbid depression in patients with panic disorder. 

Johnson and co-workers (41) found that the lifetime rate of suicide attempts with uncomplicated panic disorder was about 7%, which is consistently higher than that of the general population without a psychiatric disorder (i.e., about 1%). The researchers concluded that panic disorder, either uncomplicated or as a co-morbid illness, led to a risk of suicide attempts comparable with those of major depression ( co-morbid or uncomplicated). Their data were derived from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study, with a probability sample of more than 18,000 adults living in five United States communities. 

Although not generally recognized by medical or mental health practitioners, panic disorder patients have a suicide rate comparable with that of patients with major depression 20 to 40% of panic disorder patients report having made suicide attempts, and about half admit to having had suicidal ideation. This high rate of suicide attempts does not appear to be caused by the presence of depression in panic disorder patients. 

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