SUBTYPES OF ATAQUES-DE-NERVIOS - THE INFLUENCE OF COEXISTING PSYCHIATRIC-DIAGNOSIS

The current study assesses the relationship between presenting symptom atology of the self-labeled Hispanic popular diagnosis of ataques de n ervios and the specific co-morbid psychiatric diagnoses. Hispanic subj ects seeking treatment at an anxiety disorders clinic (n = 156) were a ssessed with a specially designed self-report instrument for both trad itional ataque de nervios and panic symptoms, and with structured or s emistructured psychiatric interviews for Axis-I disorders. This report focuses on 102 subjects with ataque de nervios who also met criteria for panic disorder, other anxiety disorders, or an affective disorder. Distinct ataque symptom patterns correlated with co-existing panic di sorder, affective disorders, or other anxiety disorders. Individuals w ith both ataque and panic disorder reported the most asphyxia, fear of dying, and increased fear during their ataques. People with ataques w ho also met criteria for affective disorder reported the most anger, s creaming, becoming aggressive, and breaking things during ataques. Ata que positive subjects with other anxiety disorders were less salient f or both panic-like and emotional-anger symptoms. The findings suggest that (a) ataque de nervios is a popular label referring to several dis tinct patterns of loss of emotional control, (b) the type of loss of e motional control is influenced by the associated psychiatric disorder, and (c) ataque symptom patterns may be a useful clinical marker for d etecting psychiatric disorders. Further study is needed to examine the relationship between ataque de nervios and psychiatric disorders, as well as the relationship to cultural, demographic, environmental, and personality factors.