@article{ref1,
title="The "suffocation alarm" theory of panic attacks: a critical commentary",
journal="Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry",
year="1994",
author="Ley, R.",
volume="25",
number="4",
pages="269-273",
abstract="In 1993 Klein proposed a &quot;false suffocation alarm&quot; theory of panic attacks, claiming that many spontaneous panic attacks are due to a &quot;suffocation monitor&quot; in the brain erroneously signaling a lack of useful air, and triggering an evolved &quot;suffocation alarm system&quot;. He proposed that carbon dioxide acts as a panic stimulus because rising arterial CO2 suggests suffocation may be imminent.&quot; The present paper provides a critical analysis of Klein's theory and concludes that there is neither empirical evidence nor compelling argument to support the assumptions or the proposed neurological mechanism of a &quot;suffocation alarm&quot;, true or false, or a CO2 &quot;suffocation monitor.&quot; Data relevant to the role of breathing in the phenomenon of panic can be parsimoniously subsumed within the domain of dyspnea.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0005-7916",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}