Chronic pain in panic disorder

Studies indicate that panic disorder is often associated with high levels of somatic preoccupation, but the nature of these somatic complaints have not been investigated in detail. One hundred and forty-one consecutive panic disorder patients were administered a pain questionnaire and pain location diagram. Almost 40% of the patients reported chronic pain and 7·8% reported using analgesics daily. The most common locations of pain were the head, shoulders, and lower back. When compared with panic disorder patients with no reports of pain, these patients scored significantly higher on several measures of psychopathology. Panic patients with chronic pain may have more functional illness behaviors that require specific treatment considerations and may represent a subset of panic disorder that is particularly at risk for somatization, hypochondriasis, and excessive health care utilization.