A 32-year-old woman complains of episodes of intense fear that occur without visible cause and last for 10-20 minutes; the episodes are characterized by rapid pulse, sweating, labored breathing, and vertigo. Specify the likely diagnosis:

Answer options

1. Claustrophobia
2. Paranoid syndrome
3. Simple schizophrenia
4. Manic syndrome
5. Panic disorder

Explanation

In this task, the panic disorder must be differentiated with three psychotic states and one non-psychotic. The absence of paranoid syndrome, manic syndrome, and simple schizophrenia indicates the absence of delusion ideas, hallucinations, cloudiness of consciousness, and non-critical attitude to her condition. The presence of emotional and somatic autonomic disorders in the patient indicates a non-psychotic register of mental disorder. The difference between this disorder and a specific phobia is based on the absence of a specific trigger situation. Psychiatry: [Textbook] V.L. Gavenko, V.M. Sinayko, G.A. Samardakova and others; reduction by V.L. Gavenko, – Kharkiv: Region-inform, 2006. – 308 P.