The definition of panic attacks, Part I.

Phenomenological data are presented for panic attacks and non-panic anxiety in 159 patients. Anxiety episodes of sudden onset tend to have greater severity, more symptoms, and shorter duration and some distinctive cognitive features. This cluster of features emerged from the analysis as characteristic of the panic attack. There were no differences between situational and spontaneous attacks nor are attacks occurring in depressed patients different from those in-patients who suffered from anxiety disorders. The ideas characteristic of normal anxiety are directed towards ordeals in the future. It is the immediacy of the anxious cognitions of imminent death, collapse or becoming insane that are characteristic of panic attacks. A definition of panic attacks is suggested.