Compared 30 patients (mean age 31.6 yrs) with panic disorder (PD), 30 patients (mean age 31.8 yrs) with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and 30 patients (mean age 39.5 yrs) with major depressive episode (MDE), with 30 controls. Psychological assessment and the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) did not significantly differentiate between the 3 disorders. Ss with PD differed from Ss with MDE in showing more situational, avoidance, free floating anxiety, and more anxious foreboding. They showed less self-negligence, ideas of guilt, early awakening, and social withdrawal. Compared with Ss with GAD, Ss with PD showed more loss of interest and muscle tension and less anxious foreboding, restlessness, inefficient thinking, social withdrawal, and delayed sleep. The clinical course and the symptom profile of PD justifies its existence as an independent diagnostic category.