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Panic disorder is usually divided into two categories. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), about one in three people diagnosed with panic disorder also suffer from agoraphobia, which is an unwillingness to venture beyond comfortable surroundings due to fear of intense anxiety. When the two disorders co-exist, it is is known as panic disorder with agoraphobia. The remaining patients with panic disorder are diagnosed with panic disorder without agoraphobia.

People who have panic disorder with agoraphobia may develop the disorder as a result of suffering numerous, unpredictable panic attacks. Patients who experience the terror of these attacks will often do anything to avoid them. As a result, they become increasingly reluctant to enter into any situation that might trigger another attack and find themselves shunning social contact and staying at home. This type of agoraphobia often begins just a few weeks after the onset of panic attacks, but may take up to a year or longer to develop.

Recent research indicates that panic disorder with agoraphobia may contribute to the development of an alcohol use disorder and vice versa.