Psychotherapies for Panic Disorder: A Tale of Two Sites.

OBJECTIVE: To compare cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), panic-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy (PFPP), and applied relaxation training (ART) for primary DSM-IV panic disorder with and without agoraphobia in a 2-site randomized controlled trial. METHOD: 201 patients were stratified for site and DSM-IV agoraphobia and depression and were randomized to CBT, PFPP, or ART (19-24 sessions) over 12 weeks in a 2:2:1 ratio at Weill Cornell Medical College (New York, New York) and University of Pennsylvania ("Penn"; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). Any medication was held constant. RESULTS: Attrition rates were ART, 41%; CBT, 25%; and PFPP, 22%. The most symptomatic patients were more likely to drop out of ART than CBT or PFPP (P = .013). Outcome analyses revealed site-by-treatment interactions in speed of Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) change over time (P = .013). At Cornell, no differences emerged on improvement on the primary outcome, estimated speed of change over time on the PDSS; at Penn, ART (P = .025) and CBT (P = .009) showed greater improvement at treatment termination than PFPP. A site-by-treatment interaction (P = .016) for a priori-defined response (40% PDSS reduction) showed significant differences at Cornell: ART 30%, CBT 65%, PFPP 71% (P = .007), but not at Penn: ART 63%, CBT 60%, PFPP 48% (P = .37). Penn patients were more symptomatic, differed demographically from Cornell patients, had a 7.2-fold greater likelihood of taking medication, and had a 28-fold greater likelihood of taking benzodiazepines. However, these differences did not explain site-by-treatment interactions. CONCLUSIONS: All treatments substantially improved panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, but patients, particularly the most severely ill, found ART less acceptable. CBT showed the most consistent performance across sites; however, the results for PFPP showed the promise of psychodynamic psychotherapy for this disorder. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00353470.

Aversive imagery in panic disorder: agoraphobia severity, comorbidity, and defensive physiology.

BACKGROUND: Panic is characterized as a disorder of interoceptive physiologic hyperarousal, secondary to persistent anticipation of panic attacks. The novel aim of this research was to investigate whether severity of agoraphobia within panic disorder covaries with the intensity of physiological reactions to imagery of panic attacks and other aversive scenarios. METHODS: A community sample of principal panic disorder (n = 112; 41 without agoraphobia, 71 with agoraphobia) and control (n = 76) participants imagined threatening and neutral events while acoustic startle probes were presented and the eye-blink response (orbicularis oculi) recorded. Changes in heart rate, skin conductance level, and facial expressivity were also measured. RESULTS: Overall, panic disorder patients exceeded control participants in startle reflex and heart rate during imagery of standard panic attack scenarios, concordant with more extreme ratings of aversion and emotional arousal. Accounting for the presence of agoraphobia revealed that both panic disorder with and without situational apprehension showed the pronounced heart rate increases during standard panic attack imagery observed for the sample as a whole. In contrast, startle potentiation to aversive imagery was more robust in those without versus with agoraphobia. Reflex diminution was most dramatic in those with the most pervasive agoraphobia, coincident with the most extreme levels of comorbid broad negative affectivity, disorder chronicity, and functional impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Principal panic disorder may represent initial, heightened interoceptive fearfulness and concomitant defensive hyperactivity, which through progressive generalization of anticipatory anxiety ultimately transitions to a disorder of pervasive agoraphobic apprehension and avoidance, broad dysphoria, and compromised mobilization for defensive action.

Circadian rhythm sleep disorder, free-running type in a sighted male with severe depression, anxiety, and agoraphobia.

Circadian rhythm sleep disorder, free-running type (CRSD, FRT) is a disorder in which the intrinsic circadian rhythm is no longer entrained to the 24-hour schedule. A unique case of CRSD, FRT in a 67-year-old sighted male is presented. The patient had a progressively delayed time in bed (TIB) each night, so that he would cycle around the 24-h clock approximately every 30 days. This was meticulously documented each night by the patient over the course of 22 years. The patient's CRSD, FRT was associated with severe depression, anxiety, and agoraphobia. The agoraphobia may have exacerbated the CRSD, FRT. Entrainment and stabilization of his circadian rhythm was accomplished after treatment that included melatonin, light therapy, and increased sleep structure.

Psychological treatment of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia: a meta-analysis.

Although the efficacy of psychological treatment for panic disorder (PD) with or without agoraphobia has been the subject of a great deal of research, the specific contribution of techniques such as exposure, cognitive therapy, relaxation training and breathing retraining has not yet been clearly established. This paper presents a meta-analysis applying random- and mixed-effects models to a total of 65 comparisons between a treated and a control group, obtained from 42 studies published between 1980 and 2006. The results showed that, after controlling for the methodological quality of the studies and the type of control group, the combination of exposure, relaxation training, and breathing retraining gives the most consistent evidence for treating PD. Other factors that improve the effectiveness of treatments are the inclusion of homework during the intervention and a follow-up program after it has finished. Furthermore, the treatment is more effective when the patients have no comorbid disorders and the shorter the time they have been suffering from the illness. Publication bias and several methodological factors were discarded as a threat against the validity of our results. Finally the implications of the results for clinical practice and for future research are discussed.

[Clinical and psychophysiological study of patients with panic attacks with or without agoraphobic disorders].

Seventy-seven patients with panic attacks (PA) with or without agoraphobic disorders and 28 healthy controls have been studied using clinico-neurological and psychological methods as well as EEG and auditory event-related evoked potentials (EP) recording. PA patients with agoraphobic disorders featured a significant decrease of density of a-rhythm power and an increase of b-rhythm power in the right hemisphere that reflected a substantial activation of the ascending mesencephalic reticular formation. At the same time, a significant increase of q-rhythm power in temporal areas of the right hemisphere was characteristic of patients without agoraphobia that suggested reinforcement of activity of temporal-limbic structures. Patients with agoraphobia demonstrated lower P300 wave amplitude, marked disturbances of its habituation, more impaired attention and higher level of anxiety and depression as compared to those without agoraphobia.

['Hyperventilation syndrome': often an easy to treat panic disorder]. / 'Hyperventilatiesyndroom': veelal goed behandelbare paniekstoornis.

Three patients, 2 men aged 35 and 26 years and 1 woman aged 41 years, had acutely occurring attacks, accompanied by diverse somatic complaints, and were diagnosed with hyperventilation syndrome. They recovered only when the complaints were recognised and treated as a panic disorder. Hyperventilation and the decrease of CO2 in the blood do not explain the symptoms and complaints in patients with panic disorder, a psychiatric disorder with a good prognosis. Treatment consists of cognitive behavioural therapy or a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor in the case of panic disorder and of a combination of those two treatments in the case of panic disorder with agoraphobia. Breathing exercises can form part of the behavioural therapy but not because the disorder is due to faulty breathing habits.

The role of self-directed in vivo exposure in combination with cognitive therapy, relaxation training, or therapist-assisted exposure in the treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia.

The effects of self-directed in vivo exposure in the treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia were examined. Seventy-four chronic and severe agoraphobic subjects were randomly assigned to Cognitive Therapy plus graded exposure. Relaxation Training plus graded exposure, or therapist-assisted graded exposure alone. Treatment consisted of 16 weekly 2.5-hour sessions. All subjects received programmed practice instructions for engaging in self-directed exposure as a concomitant strategy to their primary treatment. All subjects were instructed to keep systematic behavioral diary recordings of all self-directed exposure practice. The diary data were analyzed across and within treatments and assessment phases. Statistically significant findings were obtained across all diary measure domains with powerful repeated measures effects observed across all treatments. Significant between group effects and treatment x repeated measures interactions were obtained across the diary measure domains. Multiple linear regressions of in vivo anxiety levels and, to a lesser extent, frequency of self-directed exposure practice were found to be significantly associated with global assessment of severity at posttreatment and 3-month follow-up assessments. Furthermore, depression and marital satisfaction were significantly associated with in vivo anxiety. These and other findings are discussed with regard to their conceptual and clinical implications.

Does preference for type of treatment matter? A study of exposure in vivo with or without hypnosis in the treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia.

There is evidence that preference for a given therapy may influence results. Literature also suggests that hypnotizability may be elevated in agoraphobic patients, making hypnosis a potentially powerful method for treatment. Agoraphobic patients (N = 64) were treated with either exposure in vivo or exposure combined with hypnosis in a crossover design. Half of the patients started with the treatment they preferred and the other half received the other treatment first. Although patients' preference clearly shifted in favor of the combined therapy in the course of the study, no effect of preference on outcome was evident. Although hypnotizability clearly correlated to outcome in the combined therapy, no difference in effect between the two therapies was found on behavioral, self-report, and observer measures. No additional effect of hypnosis could be shown and preference was not found to be a powerful mediator of effect.

Personality traits among panic disorder with agoraphobia patients before and after symptom-focused treatment.

The first aim of this study was to examine the relationship between change of the agoraphobic state during treatment and personality change. The second aim was to examine the potential effect of PD traits on symptom change during and after treatment. Patients (N = 46) suffering from panic disorder with moderate or severe agoraphobia and considering agoraphobia as their main problem were randomly assigned to receive either cognitive therapy or guided mastery therapy in a 6-week inpatient group program. From before to 1 year after the end of treatment, the number of avoidant and dependent traits decreased significantly. Among changes during treatment on various symptom and cognitive variables, only change in catastrophic beliefs was significantly related to reduction in avoidant and dependent traits. Number of dependent traits at pretreatment was related to less improvement from pretreatment to 1-year follow-up on the symptom and cognitive scales.

The relationship of attributional style to agoraphobia severity, depression, and treatment outcome.

The present study examined the relationship of attributional style, as measured with a revised version of the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and measures of agoraphobia severity, depression, and treatment outcome in 73 Ss who met DSM-III criteria for agoraphobia with panic attacks and participated in one of three 13-week treatment conditions: paradoxical intention, graduated exposure, or progressive deep muscle relaxation training. Subjects completed assessments at four periods: pretreatment, midtreatment, posttreatment, and at 3 month follow-up. In addition to the three dimensions typically examined on the ASQ, this revised version also measured Ss' estimates of the perceived importance, and future likelihood for both positive and negative events. Congruent with previous research, moderate but somewhat inconsistent associations were observed between attributional style and depression both within and across assessment periods. Predictions about associations between attributional style and agoraphobic severity were not supported; however, an interaction was observed between depression and attributional style with respect to severity of agoraphobia. There was no evidence of group differences across treatment types, although there were several significant changes in attributional style across time. Attributions for health related events were also examined. Conceptual, clinical, and research issues related to the findings are discussed.

Expectations about arousal and nocturnal panic.

Expectations about arousal were examined in relation to nocturnal panic (NP). Eighteen panic disorder patients suffering from NP attacks and 18 control individuals were assigned randomly to conditions in which they were informed that audio feedback signals reflected heightened arousal that was either (a) expected and harmless or (b) unexpected. Participants relaxed and slept for 45 to 60 min, followed by presentation of periodic audio feedback signals. Physiological recording was continuous while subjective measures were collected at completion of the signals phase. NP patients in the unexpected--no reassurance condition were significantly more anxious and symptomatic than their counterparts in the expected reassurance condition, whereas control individuals did not differ across the 2 conditions. Physiological and behavioral data were less consistent than subjective measures. The results are interpreted as supportive of a cognitive-behavioral model of NP.