Psychogenic dyspnea

Dyspnea is a very common presenting complaint of a patient. Though commonly due to an organic disease, dyspnea can be a manifestation of underlying anxiety disorder. Three typical patterns of psychogenic dyspnea, viz. panic attack, psychogenic hyperventilation, and compulsive sighing, have been reviewed in this article. The article also comments on the diagnostic features and treatment of these patterns. The overlap with organic causes of dyspnea such as bronchial asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) has also been discussed. For literature review, a Medline and Pubmed search was conducted using appropriate keywords. Articles were also identified from the authors′ own knowledge of the literature as well as reference lists in articles retrieved.