Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T01:37:11.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Panic Symptoms after Inhalation of Carbondioxide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Marcel A. van den Hout  and
Eric Griez
Marcel A. van den Hout
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Psychology, State University of Limburg, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, Netherlands
Eric Griez
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychiatry, State University of Limburg
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The effects of inhaling a mixture of 35 per cent carbon dioxide and 65 per cent oxygen on the occurrence of panic symptoms defined by the DSM III, was investigated. Compared to a placebo (air), carbon dioxide produced more panic symptoms. If carbon dioxide inhalation was preceded by intake of a beta-blocker (60 mg propranolol), less symptoms occurred than if preceded by a placebo. The results are compared with earlier reports on the effects of lactate infusion. It is argued that panic disorders can be conceptualized as a fear of internal (panic) sensations and that inhalation of a mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen may constitute an effective exposure treatment.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 144 , Issue 5 , May 1984 , pp. 503 - 507
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ackerman, S. H. & Sachar, E. J. (1974) The lactate theory of anxiety. A review and re-evaluation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 36, 69–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arbab, A. G., Bonn, J. A. & Hicks, D. C. (1971) Effect of propranolol on lactate induced phenomena in normal subjects. British Journal of Pharmacology, 41, 430.Google ScholarPubMed
Bonn, J. A., Harrison, J. & Rees, W. L. (1971) Lactate induced anxiety: therapeutic applications. British Journal of Psychiatry, 119, 468–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, I. M. (1972) A conditioning model of a common neurotic pattern—fear of fear. Psychotherapy, Theory, Research and Practice, 9, 238–41.Google Scholar
Griez, E. & Van den Hout, M. A. (1982) Effects of carbondioxide-oxygen inhalations on subjective anxiety and some neurovegetative parameters. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 13, 27–32.Google Scholar
Griez, E. & Van den Hout, M. A. (1983a) Treatment of phobophobia by exposure to CO2 induced anxiety symptoms. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171, 506–8.Google Scholar
Griez, E. & Van den Hout, M. A. (1983b). Carbondioxide and anxiety. Cardiovascular effects of a single inhalation. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 14, 297–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grosz, H. J. & Farmer, B. B. (1972) Pitt's and McClure's lactate-anxiety study revisited. British Journal of Psychiatry, 120, 415–18.Google Scholar
Hout Van den, M. A. & Griez, E. (1982a) Cardiovascular and subjective responses to inhalation of carbondioxide. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 37, 75–82.Google Scholar
Hout Van den, M. A. & Griez, E. (1982b) Cognitive factors in carbondioxide therapy. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 26, 209–14.Google Scholar
Kelly, D., Mitchell-Heggs, N. & Shermann, D. (1971) Anxiety and the effects of sodium lactate assessed clinically and physiologically. British Journal of Psychiatry, 119, 129–41.Google Scholar
Latimer, P. (1977) Carbondioxide as a reciprocal inhibitor in the treatment of neurosis. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 8, 83–5.Google Scholar
Ley, R. & Walker, H. (1973) Effects of carbondioxide-oxygen inhalation on heart rate, blood pressure and subjective anxiety. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 4, 223–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linder, W. (1981) Exposure therapy for vocal phobias: a review. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 769–75.Google Scholar
Marks, I. M. (1978) Exposure treatments: conceptual issues and clinical applications. In Behavior Modification: Principles and Clinical Applications (ed. W. S. Agras). Boston: Little Brown.Google Scholar
Pitts, F. N. & McClure, J. N. (1967) Lactate metabolism in anxiety neurosis. New England Journal of Medicine, 277, 1329–36.Google Scholar
Slater, S. L. & Levy, A. (1966) The effects of inhaling a 35 per cent CO2–65 per cent O2 mixture upon anxiety in neurotic patients. Behavior Research and Therapy, 4, 309–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wheatly, D. (1981) Beta-blocking drugs in anxiety. In Stress and the Heart (ed. D. Wheatly). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Wolpe, J. (1958) Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.