Panic disorder and the menstrual cycle: panic disorder patients, healthy control subjects, and patients with premenstrual syndrome

Abstract

The authors prospectively evaluated 20 normally menstruating women with panic disorder across a minimum of two drug-free menstrual cycles. There were no significant effects of menstrual cycle phase on anxiety ratings in the panic disorder patients or in 20 healthy control subjects; this contrasted with a robust increase in premenstrual anxiety in 20 subjects with premenstrual syndrome. These findings suggest that the symptoms of panic disorder are not commonly exacerbated by the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle and highlight the need for prospective evaluation in the attempt to document an association between psychiatric symptoms and the menstrual cycle.