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inherited. People who have close family members, such as parents or
siblings, with panic disorder are more likely to be diagnosed with the
disorder themselves.
Panic Disorder in Children and Teens
At one time panic disorder was believed to be strictly an adult disorder.
However, studies have shown that many adults with panic disorder re-
port that they had their first panic attack before age twenty. According
to theNIMH, approximately 2.3 percent of thirteen- to eighteen-year-
olds will experience panic disorder. Girls are more likely than boys to
develop it.The risk of the disorder also increases with age—those who
are seventeen to eighteen years old are more likely than thirteen- and
fourteen-year-olds to develop it.
Panic disorder symptoms can be
slightly different in children and teens
than in adults. Children are more likely
to report the physical symptoms of a pan-
ic attack—such as increased heart rate or
trouble breathing—than the psychologi-
cal symptoms (fear and loss of control).
The nature of being young can make
children’s panic disorder confusing for
adult caretakers. A child having a panic
attack may appear to be frightened or
upset with no identifiable cause, which can be challenging for parents.
Very young children may not be able to adequately describe the feel-
ings or fears that they experience during a panic attack. “When my son
has a panic attack, he seems to be incapable of speech and his scream is
high-pitched and sharp, like in a horror movie,” says KarenWang, the
mother of a childwho experiences panic attacks caused by agoraphobia.
“His eyes are wide with fear. He starts hyperventilating and trembling
right away. He will either try to run away or fight.”
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Older children
and teens are usually better able to describe what happened during an
attack once it has ended.
It is important to note that not all experiences of panic indicate
the presence of panic disorder in a child. During a child’s develop-
ment, there are normal periods of anxiety. Many young children feel
“It’s panic, you sweat,
you’re weak in the
legs, you feel sick in
the stomach, it’s like
you lose control of your
whole body.”
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—Donna Bolton, a panic disorder
sufferer and agoraphobic.
