Lifetime trauma history and panic disorder: findings from the National Comorbidity Survey

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to examine prevalence of lifetime traumatic experiences in a community sample of panic disorder patients. METHOD: We examined trauma rates in a cohort of panic disorder patients. Also, we statistically disaggregated comorbid PTSD from individuals diagnosed with panic disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. FINDINGS: Panic disorder patients suffer lifetime traumatic experiences at high rates. We found that 24.2% of females and 5% of males with panic disorder reported previous history of being sexually molested. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that trauma may act as a risk factor for panic disorder, as well as comorbid panic disorder and PTSD.