Expecting the Unexpected: Predicting Panic Attacks From Mood, Twitter, and Apple Watch Data

Panic attacks are an impairing mental health problem that affects 11% of adults every year. Current criteria describe them as occurring without warning, despite evidence suggesting individuals can often identify attack triggers. We aimed to prospectively explore qualitative and quantitative factors associated with the onset of panic attacks.

Of 87 participants, 95% retrospectively identified a trigger for their panic attacks. Worse individually reported mood and state-level mood, as indicated by Twitter ratings, were related to greater likelihood of next-day panic attack. In a subsample of participants who uploaded their wearable sensor data (n = 32), louder ambient noise and higher resting heart rate were related to greater likelihood of next-day panic attack.

These promising results suggest that individuals who experience panic attacks may be able to anticipate their next attack which could be used to inform future prevention and intervention efforts.