Personality Traits in Panic Disorder Patients With and Without Comorbidities

Abstract

Panic disorder (PD) is often correlated with high neuroticism and low extraversion. This study aims to ascertain whether PD patients differ from healthy controls in regard to personality traits and determine if these traits are correlated with comorbid disorders, anxiety, and depression symptoms. Personality traits of 69 PD patients and 42 controls were compared using the Maudsley Personality Inventory. In PD patients, comorbidities, anxiety, and depression symptoms were also evaluated. PD patients showed higher neuroticism and lower extraversion compared with healthy controls. Patients without comorbidities presented similar results to controls, whereas those with comorbidities presented higher neuroticism and lower extraversion scores. PD per se may be unrelated to deviant personality traits, although comorbidities with major depressive disorder and agoraphobia are probably associated with high neuroticism and low extraversion. These traits show a strong correlation with the accumulation and severity of these disorders.

Associations Among Monoamine Neurotransmitter Pathways, Personality Traits, and Major Depressive Disorder

“…Elevated a 2 -adrenoceptor density has also been found in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of depressed suicides (114,115). Moreover, Rivero and co-workers found that the elevated a 2adrenoceptors density in the prefrontal cortex of suicidal depressed subjects was resistant to antidepressant therapy, whereas elevated b 1 -adrenoceptor density was reduced by such therapy (116). The efficacy of selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) provides the strongest evidence for a direct contribution of deficient NE transmission to depression.…”

Personality Dimensions of Speech-Language Pathologists Who Work With Clients Who Stutter

“…Extraversion is characterized by affiliation (i.e., enjoying close interpersonal bonds, being warm and affectionate) and agency (i.e., being socially dominant, enjoying leadership roles; Depue & Collins, 1999), as well as the tendency toward sociability. Previous studies have indicated that Extraversion is negatively correlated with anxiety (Zugliani, Martin-Santos, Nardi, & Freire, 2017); as such, it is reasonable to posit that SLPs with high Extraversion levels would also feel more comfortable in treating PWS who, as previously discussed, tend to exhibit high levels of anxiety. This greater comfort or compatibility may result in a higher inclination to work in the area of stuttering.…”

Neural correlates of emotional processing in panic disorder

“…Hypo-responsivity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and cingulate cortex to fearful faces has also been observed in PD patients, when compared to HC ( Pillay et al, 2006 ) which may underlie reduced capacity in regulating emotional responses to the emotionally expressive faces. This pattern may also reflect hyper-arousal in PD patients ( Zugliani et al, 2017 ), an effect which reduces their capacity to process new emotional information ( Pillay et al, 2006 ). ACC hyper-responsivity to happy faces has also been found in PD patients ( Pillay et al, 2007 ), possibly indicating that PD individuals attribute greater salience to emotional information compared to HC ( Pillay et al, 2007 ).…”