Treatment of cocaine-induced panic disorder.
The authors describe 10 patients who developed panic attacks only after substantial cocaine use. The timing of the onset of symptoms, i.e., after 1-6 years of cocaine use, and the fact that only one patient had a first-degree relative with panic disorder were more suggestive of acquired than primary panic disorder. The patients' atypical symptoms and responses to medications may be explained in terms of limbic-neuronal hyperexcitability induced by cocaine through a kindling mechanism.
Louie
A K
AK
Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco.
Lannon
R A
RA
Ketter
T A
TA
D000328:Adult; D000379:Agoraphobia / Q000139:chemically induced; D000661:Amphetamine / Q000009:adverse effects; D003042:Cocaine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005239:Fear / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010200:Panic / Q000187:drug effects*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000209:etiology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications*
D000661:Amphetamine; D003042:Cocaine