title: The "suffocation alarm" theory of panic attacks: a critical commentary.
abstract: In 1993 Klein proposed a "false suffocation alarm" theory of panic attacks, claiming that many spontaneous panic attacks are due to a "suffocation monitor" in the brain erroneously signaling a lack of useful air, and triggering an evolved "suffocation alarm system". He proposed that carbon dioxide acts as a panic stimulus because rising arterial CO2 suggests suffocation may be imminent." The present paper provides a critical analysis of Klein's theory and concludes that there is neither empirical evidence nor compelling argument to support the assumptions or the proposed neurological mechanism of a "suffocation alarm", true or false, or a CO2 "suffocation monitor." Data relevant to the role of breathing in the phenomenon of panic can be parsimoniously subsumed within the domain of dyspnea.
authors.affiliation: University at Albany, State University of New York 12222.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ley
mesh_terms: D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001237:Asphyxia / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D002534:Hypoxia, Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide