Excess mortality in panic disorder. A comparison with primary unipolar depression.

We located 113 former inpatients with panic disorder 35 years after index admission. According to age- and sex-specific Iowa population figures, patients with panic disorder had significant excess mortality due to death by unnatural causes. Other studies suggest that secondary depression and alcoholism may have had a role in these deaths. Men with panic disorder also exhibited excess mortality due to circulatory system disease. In an age- and sex-matched patient group with primary unipolar depression, both men and women showed excess mortality. Suicide accounted for 20.0% and 16.2% of deaths in the panic disorder and primary depression groups, respectively. We conclude that panic disorder accounted for much of the excess mortality formerly noted in the "neuroses."