18
says Bolton of how it feels to leave her house. “You’d wet your pants
even. And you shake, you can’t stop shaking.”
14
Bolton’s agoraphobia
currently prevents her from having a job, and she says that it has been
very hard on her children.
Who Is at Risk?
Anxiety disorders, including panic disorder, are the most common
mental illnesses in the United States. According to the National In-
stitute of Mental Health (NIMH), anxiety disorders affect about 40
million American adults ages eighteen and older in any given year—
about 18 percent of the population. According to the ADAA, panic
disorder affects about 6 million American adults.
Panic disorder can strike people of any age, gender, race, or socio-
economic background.However, some risk factorsmake a personhave
a greater chance of developing it. According to the ADAA, women
are about twice as likely to develop panic disorder over their lifetime
as men. Age is also a risk factor for developing panic disorder, which
usually first strikes during late adolescence and early adulthood. Ac-
cording to the Perelman School of Medicine, about half of those who
have panic disorder develop it before age twenty-four. In addition,
older women may have a higher risk of panic disorder; studies have
shown that panic attacks are common for women after menopause.
Often the attacks are associated with stressful life events or health
problems. Finally, the risk of developing panic disorder appears to be
Celebrities with Panic Disorder
According to Calm Clinic, a website by and for people with panic and anxiety
disorders, many successful actors, writers, musicians, scientists, and celebri-
ties have been diagnosed with and treated for panic attacks and panic disorder.
These include the late princess Diana, singer David Bowie, actress and me-
dia mogul Oprah Winfrey, actor Johnny Depp, author John Steinbeck, physician
Sigmund Freud, Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, actress Scarlett Johansson,
singer Adele, and scientist Nikola Tesla.
