The ‘panic attack specifier’

Separate from panic disorder, panic attacks can be experienced in the context any anxiety disorder, and can be included diagnostically using the specifier outlined on the slide.¹

References:

1.American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fifth Edition – text revision. © American Psychiatric Association, 2022.

2.World Health Organization. International Classification of Diseases – 11th edition. Available at: https://icd.who.int/en. Accessed July 2025.

3.Batelaan NM, Rhebergen D, de Graaf R, et al. Panic attacks as a dimension of psychopathology: evidence for associations with onset and course of mental disorders and level of functioning. J Clin Psychiatry 2012; 73 (9): 1195–1202.