Pint-Sized Panic

Psychology Today: Conventional wisdom holds that panic doesn't begin before late teens or early adulthood. Truth is, almost nothing is known about its life course. So New York psychiatrist Donna Moreau, M.D., put out a call to local emergency rooms for kids who might be brought in with the distinctive but disabling symptoms. Ninety children were referred to her for clinical testing at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Of the 90 brought in, 90 percent proved to have bona fide panic disorder. The youngest is a seven-year-old who complained of a racing heart and breathing trouble. In young children as well as adults, panic attacks occur spontaneously, not in reaction to obvious psychological stress. In kids, the attacks are often misdiagnosed as separation anxiety or school phobia. Typically, fear of having a full-blown panic attack leads victims to restrict activities and avoid going to school or other public places. "These children are really suffering," says Moreau. "It takes a long time for them to be diagnosed." No study yet indicates how many kids are prone to this disorder or what happens to them in adulthood. Both drugs and cognitive-behavioral therapies work in adults and, presumably, children with panic disorder. Identifying panic-prone kids and providing treatment may stave off serious consequences seen in adults.