Psychiatry: Panic Disorder

Today's Case A 28-year-old female presents to an outpatient psychiatry clinic with a 1-month history of anxiety attacks. She has a past history of major depressive disorder (MDD) and is taking a low dose sero- tonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). During the panic attacks she experiences severe anxiety with the following symptoms: lightheadedness, accelerated heart rate, chest pain, short- ness of breath, and nausea. The symptoms last between 2 and 20 minutes. She cannot identify any triggers for the panic attacks. She has been worrying about when the next panic attack will occur, and the symptoms are affecting her ability to function. She was previously effectively treated with venlafaxine and until now had experienced infrequent panic attacks. Today's Reader Ryan O'Connell is a junior biology major at Loyola Marymount University. About Dr. Raj Dr Raj is a quadruple board certified physician and associate professor at the University of Southern California. He was a co-host on the TNT series Chasing the Cure with Ann Curry, a regular on the TV Show The Doctors for the past 7 seasons and has a weekly medical segment on ABC news Los Angeles. More from Dr. Raj ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Dr. Raj Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dr. Raj on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dr. Raj on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want more board review content? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠USMLE Step 1 Ad-Free Bundle⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Crush Step 1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Step 2 Secrets⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Beyond the Pearls⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Dr. Raj Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Beyond the Pearls Premium⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠USMLE Step 3 Review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MedPrepTGo Step 1 Questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MedPrepTGo Step 2 Questions⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices