Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of anxiety and depression on the autonomic nervous system. Subjects were patients with depressive disorder (n = 8), panic disorder (n = 10), and normal controls (n = 10). We examine the autonomic function using power spectral analysis of diastolic blood pressure and pulse interval. We used the high frequency power of pulse interval variability as the parameter of the cardiac parasympathetic activity, low frequency power of diastolic blood pressure variability as the parameter of the peripheral vascular sympathetic activity, and mid frequency normalized unit of diastolic blood pressure variability as the parameter of the baroreflex sympathetic activity. In patients with depressive disorder, cardiac parasympathetic activity showed a significant decrease (p < 0.05), and peripheral vascular sympathetic activity also decreased (p < 0.05). On the other hand, in patients with panic disorder, baroreflex sympathetic activity significantly increased (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that anxiety and depression have different influences on the autonomic nervous system.
