The authors compared the maximal duration of voluntary breath-holding in
patients with panic disorder (N = 23), patients with generalized social
phobia (N = 10), and healthy subjects (N = 26). Patients with panic
disorder had significantly shorter breath-holding durations than either
comparison group. Groups did not otherwise differ in physiologic response
to the breath-holding. Implications for a false suffocation alarm in panic
disorder are discussed.Abstract Teaser