Abstract
As most of mental disorders are accompanied with sleep disturbances, sleep may be robustly associated with mental disorders including panic disorder (PD). Clinical experiences suggest that in the study of the association, habits of sleep, not only its disturbance may be essential to investigate. We, therefore, examined the relationship between sleep habits and mental health status (GHQ-12 score) in PD patients, using a self-reported questionnaire. We also examined a small number of social anxiety disorder (SAD) patients. PD patients had trends of late bedtime and short sleep length. Sleep length of < 6 hours was significantly associated with poor mental health. In PD patients without major depression, TV/PC use after lights-out was also associated with poor mental health. The TV/PC use was observed in close to 40% of PD patients, while it was observed in approximately 20% in SAD patients. The undesired sleep habits may have adverse effects on mental health in PD patients.
