The Consequences of Panic

The most common behavioral consequence of panic is the emergence of avoidance behavior. If this behavior becomes excessive/extensive, it can be disabling. It is postulated that the major determinant of panic-related avoidance behavior is the person’s present prediction of the probability of experiencing a panic in specified circumstances. Other factors, such as the expected aversiveness of the panic and the availability of safety signals, also contribute to the avoidance. The cognitive consequences of panic include the following: Episodes of panic are followed by increases in the prediction of future panics, and in expected fear, but little or no increase in reported fear. Unexpected panics make the largest contribution to these changes, and expected panics are followed by little or no change in predictions or reports of panic or of fear. Disconfirmed predictions of panic are followed by reductions in fear, and with sufficient repetitions, by reductions in predictions of panic.