Exploring the Dynamics of a Panicking Brain: A System Dynamics Simulation Model of Biological and Psychological Theories of Panic Disorder Book

The book translates the contemporary biological and psychological conceptualizations of panic disorder (PD) into a computer simulation model using system dynamics (SD) technique. It makes explicit the dynamic processes implicit in the narrative presentations of the literature through elaborative diagrams which provide a "blue print" for the stock and flow model development. The simulation tests of the model show that the proposed structure (the brain system) in the PD theories is capable of generating the expected panicky behaviour. Though these tests further testify these theories, however, they also highlight some interesting "grey areas" that need further research. This whole effort serves as a facilitator for the PD discussion as it provides an easy-to-understand and illustrative language (the SD diagrams and model) for laymen and students to understand and researchers of related fields to critically examine the biological, psychological, social and cognitive aspects of PD.