"Felt Like I Was Dying" Celebrities' Confessions Lead to Increase in General Public Hospital Visits

Seoul Asan Hospital Professors Shin Yong-wook and Cho Min-woo Research
Analysis of New Panic Disorder Diagnosis Rates from 2004 to 2021

A study has found that confessions by famous celebrities about receiving treatment for panic disorder have encouraged patients with panic disorder to visit hospitals, thereby increasing the rate of new diagnoses.

On the 11th, Seoul Asan Medical Center announced that a research team led by Shin Yong-wook from the Department of Psychiatry at the hospital and Professor Cho Min-woo from the Department of Preventive Medicine at Ulsan University College of Medicine analyzed the diagnosis rates of panic disorder over 17 years from 2004 and identified this correlation.

Broadcaster Lee Kyung-kyu (left), actor Lee Byung-hun (right). [Photo by Asia Economy DB, SNS]

The research team analyzed the rate of newly diagnosed patients with panic disorder per 100,000 people, based on data from the National Health Insurance Service, from January 2004 to December 2021. As a result, it was found that the new diagnosis rate suddenly increased starting from December 2010, when a famous actor who starred in several movies and dramas publicly revealed that he had suffered from panic disorder.

The average monthly new diagnosis rate of panic disorder per 100,000 people was about 5.4 from January 2004 to November 2010, before the actor’s confession. However, immediately after the confession in December 2010, it rose to about 6.5 per 100,000. The new diagnosis rate continued to increase sharply, reaching 8.4 in January-February 2011, 18.0 in March, and 26.0 in April.

Department of Psychiatry, Ulsan University College of Medicine, Seoul Asan Medical Center, Professors Yongwook Shin (left) and Minwoo Cho (right)
[Photo by Seoul Asan Medical Center, Yonhap News]

The research team explained that the new diagnosis rate steadily increased as public interest grew following confessions of panic disorder by a famous singer and comedian in October 2011 and January 2012, respectively. The average annual new diagnosis rate of panic disorder was 65 per 100,000 people from 2004 to 2010, but it increased 9.4 times to 610 in 2021.

Professor Shin explained, "It can be interpreted that people who had suffered from panic disorder symptoms but either did not know or were afraid of social stigma and thus avoided hospitals gained the courage to seek help after seeing celebrities’ sincere accounts of their mental illness battles." Regarding the characteristic sharp increase only in panic disorder patients, not other mental illnesses, he said, "It may be because, despite various symptoms, patients receive treatment mainly for the relatively well-known panic disorder." He advised, "Many mental illnesses, including panic disorder, do not significantly affect daily life if properly diagnosed and treated, so if you have symptoms, please consult a specialist as soon as possible."

This study was published in the recent issue of the American international academic journal JAMA Network Open.

The characteristic feature of panic disorder is 'panic attacks,' which are extreme anxiety states that occur unexpectedly without a specific reason. When an attack begins, symptoms such as severe anxiety and restlessness, fear of dying, shortness of breath or feeling of suffocation, chills, hot flashes, dizziness, sweating, or trembling hands and feet repeatedly appear within a short period. Celebrities who have publicly disclosed having panic disorder include Lee Kyung-kyu, Kim Gu-ra, Kim Jang-hoon, Jung Hyung-don, Cha Tae-hyun, Lee Soo-geun, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Chan-woo.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.