The impact of pregnancy and puerperium on panic disorder: A review

There is little known about the effect of pregnancy and the puerperium on t he risk for; and course of anxiety disorders. Initial case reports concerni ng the relationship between panic disorder (PD) and pregnancy/puerperium su ggested that pregnancy protected against PD, while the postpartum period se emed to increase the risk for onset or exacerbation dPD Later studies have offered a more mixed picture. A computerized search identified eight relevant studies in this area. All w ere non-controlled and all but one retrospective. Out of the total 215 preg nancies that were described in these studies, 89 (41%) were associated with improvement of PD symptom; during the pregnancy, while 38% of the describe d pregnancies exhibited onset or exacerbation of PD in the postpartum perio d. No definite conclusions regarding the effect of pregnancy and puerperium on PD can be drawn from these revalued studies.