General Hospital Psychiatry
Volume 26, Issue 5 , Pages 390-397 , September 2004

Olfactory-triggered panic attacks among Cambodian refugees attending a psychiatric clinic

  • Devon E. Hinton, M.D., Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA
    • Southeast Asian Clinic, Arbour Counseling Services, 10 Bridge Street, Lowell, MA 01852, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Arbour Counseling Services, 10 Bridge Street, The Simpson Block, Lowell, MA 01852, USA. Tel.: +1 617 738 9055; fax: +1 978 970 5595.
    • ,
  • Vuth Pich, M.S.W.

      Affiliations

    • Southeast Asian Clinic, Arbour Counseling Services, 10 Bridge Street, Lowell, MA 01852, USA
    • ,
  • Dara Chhean, B.A.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA
    • Southeast Asian Clinic, Arbour Counseling Services, 10 Bridge Street, Lowell, MA 01852, USA
    • ,
  • M.H. Pollack, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA
    • ,
  • David H. Barlow, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University, Boston, MA 02114, USA

Received 19 January 2004 ,Accepted 22 April 2004.

References 

  1. Langer L. Holocaust testimonies: the ruins of memory. New Haven (CT): Yale University Press; 1991;
  2. Keane T, Fairbank J, Caddell J, Zimering R, Bender M. A behavioral approach to assessing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder in Vietnamese Veterans. In:  Figley CR editors. Trauma and its wake. New York: Brunner; 1985;p. 173–199
  3. Kline NA, Rausch JL. Olfactory precipitants of flashbacks in posttraumatic stress disorder: case reports. J. Clin. Psychiatry. 1985;46:383–384
  4. Devriese S, Winters W, Stegen K, et al. Generalization of acquired somatic symptoms in response to odors: a Pavlovian perspective on multiple chemical sensitivity. Psychosom. Med. 2002;62:751–759
  5. Binkley KE, Kutcher S. Panic response to sodium lactate infusion in patients with multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 1997;99:570–574
  6. Guglielmi RS, Cox DJ, Spyker DA. Behavioral treatment of phobic avoidance in multiple chemical sensitivity. J. Behav. Ther. Exp. Psychiatry. 1994;25:197–209
  7. Hartman DE. Missed diagnoses and misdiagnoses of environmental toxicant exposure: the psychiatry of toxic exposure and multiple chemical sensitivity. Psychiatric Clin. N. Am. 1998;21:659–670
  8. Leznoff A. Provocative challenges in patients with multiple chemical sensitivity. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 1997;99:438–442
  9. Poonai N, Antony MM, Binkley KE, et al. Carbon dioxide inhalation challenges in idiopathic environmental intolerance. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 2000;105:358–363
  10. Staudenmayer H. Multiple chemical sensitivities or idiopathic environmental intolerances: psychophysiologic foundation of knowledge for a psychogenic explanation. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 1997;99:434–437
  11. Stenn P, Binkley K. Successful outcome in a patient with chemical sensitivity: treatment with psychological desensitization and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Psychosomatics. 1998;39:547–549
  12. Carlson E, Rosser-Hoggan R. Cross-cultural responses to trauma: a study of traumatic experiences and posttraumatic symptoms in Cambodian refugees. J. Trauma Stress. 1994;7:43–58
  13. Hinton D, Ba P, Peou S, Um K. Panic disorder among Cambodian refugees attending a psychiatric clinic: prevalence and subtypes. Gen. Hosp. Psychiatry. 2000;22:437–444
  14. Hinton D, So V, Pollack M, Pitman R, Orr S. The psychophysiology of orthostatic panic in Cambodian refugees attending a psychiatric clinic. J. Psychopathol. Behav. Assessment. 2004;26:1–13
  15. First M, Spitzer R, Gibbon M. Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders. Patient edition. 722 West 168th Street, New York, New York, 10032: Biometrics Research Department, New York State Psychiatric Institute; 1995;
  16. Clum G, Broyles S, Borden J, et al. Validity and reliability of the panic attack symptom and cognitions questionnaire. J. Psychopathol. Behav. Assess. 1990;12:233–245
  17. Hinton D, Chea A, Ba P. Olfactory panic among Cambodian refugees: a contextual approach. Transcult. Psychiatry. 2003;[in press]
  18. Shear M, Brown T, Barlow D, et al. Multicenter collaborative panic disorder severity scale. Am. J. Psychiatry. 1997;154:1571–1575
  19. Bandelow B. Assessing the efficacy of treatments for panic disorder and agoraphobia. II. The panic and agoraphobia scale. Int. Clin. Psychopharmacol. 1995;10:73–81
  20. Pecknold J, Luthe L, Munjack D. Panic factor: outcome variable in panic disorder. J. Psychiatry Res. 1993;27:369–377
  21. Weathers F, Keane T, Davidson J. Clinician-administered PTSD scale: a review of the first ten years of research. Depress Anxiety. 2001;13:132–156
  22. Mollica R, Wyshak G, Marneffe D, et al. Indochinese versions of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25: a screening instrument for the psychiatric care of refugees. Am. J. Psychiatry. 1987;144:497–500
  23. Mollica R, Mcinness K, Poole C, Tor S. Dose-effect relationships of trauma to symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder among Cambodian survivors of mass violence. Br. J. Psychiatry. 1998;173:482–488
  24. Keane T, Kaloupek D, Weathers F. Ethnocultural considerations in the assessment of PTSD. In:  Marsella A,  Friedman M,  Gerrity E,  Scurfield R editor. Enthnocultural aspects of posttraumatic stress disorder. Washington (DC): American Psychological Association; 1996;p. 183–209
  25. Bouton M, Mineka S, Barlow D. A modern learning theory perspective on the etiology of panic disorder. Psychol. Rev. 2001;108:4–32
  26. Friedman M. Neurobiological sensitization models of post-traumatic stress disorder: their possible relevance to multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome. Toxicol. Ind. Health. 1994;10:449–462
  27. Stern R, Hu S, Mucht S, Xu L, Koch K. Asian hypersusceptibility to motion sickness. Hum. Hered. 1996;46:7–13
  28. Morrow G. Anticipatory nausea development in cancer patients: replications and extension of a learning model. Br. J. Psychol. 1991;82:61–72
  29. Leventhal H, Easterling D, Nerenz D, Love R. The role of motion sickness in predicting anticipatory nausea. J. Behav. Med. 1988;11:117–130
  30. Yardley L. Vertigo and dizziness. London: Routledge; 1994;
  31. Clark DM. Anxiety disorders: why they persist and how to treat them. Behav. Res. Therapy. 1999;37:S5–S27
  32. Chung R, Singer M. Interpretation of symptom presentation and distress. A Southeast Asian refugee example. J. Nervous Ment. Dis. 1995;183:639–648
  33. Hinton D, Pham T, Chau H, Tran M, Hinton S. “Hit by the wind” and temperature-shift panic among Vietnamese refugees. Transcult. Psychiatry. 2003;40:342–376
  34. Park L, Hinton D. Dizziness and panic in China: associated sensations of Zang Fu organ disequilibrium. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. 2002;26:225–257
  35. Hinton D, Chau H, Nguyen L, et al. Panic disorder among Vietnamese refugees attending a psychiatric clinic: prevalence and subtypes. Gen. Hosp. Psychiatry. 2001;23:337–344
  36. Hinton D, Pich K, Um K, Pollack M. The Khmer “weak heart” syndrome: fear of death from palpitations. Transcult. Psychiatry. 2002;39:323–344
  37. Hinton D, Ba P, Um K. Kyol goeu (“wind overload”) part I: a cultural syndrome of orthostatic panic among Khmer refugees. Transcult. Psychiatry. 2001;38:403–432
  38. Hinton D, Ba P, Um K. Kyol goeu (“wind overload”) part II: prevalence, characteristics, and mechanisms of kyol goeu and near-kyol goeu episodes of Khmer patients attending a psychiatric clinic. Transcult. Psychiatry. 2001;38:433–460
  39. Hinton D, Um K, Ba P. A unique panic-disorder presentation among Khmer refugees: the sore-neck syndrome. Cult. Med. Psychiatry. 2001;25:297–316
  40. Clark DM. A cognitive approach to panic. Behav. Res. Ther. 1986;24:461–470
  41. Taylor S, Cox B. Anxiety sensitivity: multiple dimensions and hierarchic structure. Behav. Res. Ther. 1998;36:37–51
  42. Schmidt NB, Lerew D, Jackson R. The role of anxiety sensitivity in the pathogenesis of panic: prospective evaluation of spontaneous panic attacks during acute stress. J. Abnormal. Psychol. 1997;106:355–364
  43. Falsetti SA, Resnick H. Frequency and severity of panic attack symptoms in a treatment seeking sample of trauma victims. J. Traumatic Stress. 1997;10:683–689
  44. Barlow DH. Anxiety and its disorders. 2nd ed.. New York: Guilford Press; 2002;
  45. Barlow DH. Anxiety and its disorders. 1st ed.. New York: Guilford Press; 1988;
  46. McNally RJ, Lukach BM. Are panic attacks traumatic stressors?. Am. J. Psychiatry. 1992;149:824–826
  47. Barlow D, Craske M. Mastery of your anxiety and panic: client workbook for anxiety and panic. 3rd ed.. San Antonio (TX): Graywind Publications Incorporated, The Psychological Corporation; 2000;
  48. Ehlers A, Clark D. A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behav. Res. Ther. 2000;38:319–345
  49. Jones JC, Barlow D. The etiology of posttraumatic stress disorder. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 1990;10:299–328
  50. Otto M, Hinton D, Korbly N, et al. Treatment of pharmacotherapy-refractory posttraumatic stress disorder among Cambodian refugees: a pilot study of combination treatment with cognitive-behavior therapy vs. sertraline alone. Behav. Res. Ther. 2003;41:1271–1276
  51. Hinton D, Pham T, Tran M, Safren S, Otto M, Pollack M. CBT for Vietnamese with treatment-resistant PTSD and panic attacks. J. Trauma Stress [in press].
  52. McNally RJ, Eke M. Anxiety sensitivity, suffocation fear, and breath-holding duration as predictors of response to carbon dioxide challenge. J. Abnormal. Psychol. 1996;105:146–149

PII: S0163-8343(04)00064-7

doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2004.04.007

General Hospital Psychiatry
Volume 26, Issue 5 , Pages 390-397 , September 2004

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution