Objective: To analyze the correlation between signs of panic disorder and depressive symptoms in affective disorders.
Material and methods: Authors studied 40 patients (23 men and 17 women, mean age 31.8 years) with mild and moderate depression comorbid with symptoms of panic disorders.
Results: It was singled out two types of the comorbidity of anxiety-depressive symptoms. The first type is characterized by anxiety-apathetic affect with the domination of ideational disorders with elements of alexithymia; panic attacks were represented by clearly-delineated paroxysms and reduced as depressive symptoms came back; affective disorder had bipolar phases. The second type of comorbidity was characterized by the somatization and asthenic symptoms in depression structure, unstable functional impairment in panic paroxysms; signs of partial agoraphobia and unipolar type of affective disorder. The complete reduction of panic attacks during the remission of depressive disorder was not found as well.
Conclusion: The types of comorbidity have different types of the dynamics of panic and depressive disorders.