In my periodic searches of the internet for articles talking about the relationship between sleep apnea and anxiety and panic issues, I stumbled upon this recently-a letter to Psychosomatics magazine citing a case study of a 43 year-old woman who successfully treated her anxiety and panic issues through the use of a CPAP machine. I’d love to properly cite the author of the letter, but I’m either missing it (which is probable) or it’s not provided.
To summarize, the woman had been suffering from daytime panic attacks for four years, including symptoms that made her measurably agoraphobic.
Despite not being a snorer or having been witnessed having apnea while sleeping, she was monitored for three successive nights and was found to have moderate sleep apnea. Following being treated with a CPAP machine, she reported “complete cessation” of both daytime and nighttime panic attacks.
The letter goes on to discuss the findings related in a study that I’ve been trying to get my hands on for a while now (abstract of that article is found here) that was published in 1991-not exactly recent work, but informational, I suspect, anyway.
While, as stated in the letter, a significant link between the two-sleep apnea and panic-has not been established, I found the conclusions in it to be hopeful and fascinating:
“The observed improvement of panic disorder with CPAP treatment may have several explanations. Correction of apneic/hypercarbic episodes may result in diminished triggering of a hypersensitive suffocation alarm system. Alternatively, improved sleep quality due to reducedapneic arousals may have improved panic attacks because sleep deprivation exacerbates panic disorder.”
The Angie. 