Panic disorder and sleep disorders

Abstract

Introduction. Panic disorder (PD) are common problems in both primary and psychiatric specialty care. PD includes panic attacks (PA). PA are characterized by a sudden wave of fear or discomfort or a sense of losing control even when there is no clear danger or trigger. PD is frequently comorbid with sleep disorders, especially insomnia, сlosely interrelated etiopatogenically and worsen each other’s flow.Aim. To evaluate the severity of the impact of sleep disturbances on the condition of patients with panic disorder and their dynamics during therapy.Materials and methods. The study included 46 patients including 26 with a PD and sleep disturbances, assigned to the main group, and 20 healthy patients. The study design included clinical, anamnestic and psychometric methods (Sheehan scale, State-T rait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)) and sleep quality scales (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Spiegel questionnaire). Participants in the main group received psychoeducation and drug correction of PD (without the use of sedatives). A few months later, patients in the main group were re-tested.Results. The results of the study indicate an obvious dependence of manifestation of clinical manifestations of panic disorder (agoraphobia attachment) and emotional disorders on the degree of severity of accompanying insomnia. With PR treatment not focused on correcting sleep disorders, patients experienced not only statistically significant reductions in Shihan levels of anxiety and trait anxiety in the STAI, but also statistically significant improvements in sleep quality.Conclusion. Dependence of manifestation of clinical manifestations of panic disorder and emotional disorders on degree of manifestation of accompanying insomnia is shown. A panic disorder correction aimed at reducing anxiety led to a significant improvement in sleep subjectivity and psychometric testing.