Panic Disorder With Agoraphobia

"In 1968, twenty-five-year-old Douglas Pollock McCloud began experiencing acute feelings of fear and nausea and a pounding heart. He felt as if he were about to lose his mind or die. McCloud was suffering from untreated panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA)—a disorder so poorly understood in the United States that no formal diagnostic criteria or treatment existed yet. What little he was able to learn came from European and Australian sources. Only in 1980 would the DSM-3 list his symptoms as a diagnosable condition. The next fifty years would see great strides made in identifying and treating PDA. Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia offers a fascinating examination of the medical history behind PDA diagnoses, supported by elements of McCloud's own search for answers about his condition.

Douglas Pollock McCloud was twenty-five when he first experienced the effects of panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA). The year was 1968—twelve years before The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders listed formal diagnostic criteria for the condition. Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia recounts the past fifty years of medical history as it pertains to PDA. McCloud shares his own experiences with PDA diagnosis and treatment, including his personal search for answers while he waited for psychiatry to catch up with his symptoms. McCloud details the early days of PDA treatment, the different psychiatric and psychotherapeutic approaches to the disorder, and the inevitable growing pains required to achieve proper diagnostic results. He pays special attention to the often-contentious debate concerning antianxiety and antidepressant medication as initial treatments for PDA. A treasure trove of information for anyone interested in panic disorder with agoraphobia, McCloud's story discusses important medical professionals and their contributions to PDA diagnosis and treatment, as well as the role people living with PDA have had in their own treatment. Fifty years ago little help was available as McCloud struggled with the debilitating effects of PDA. Today, there's both treatment and hope."

Douglas Pollock McCloud earned his AB from Harvard University in 1966 and his MBA from the University of California, Berkeley in 1968. He is a financial consultant who lives in Belleair Beach, Florida.