"My new Alfa Romeo GT is not in the garage any more": Cognitive behavioural therapy of panic disorder with agoraphobia co morbid with psychosis.

ABSTRACT

This paper describes a case of co-morbid panic disorder and psychosis with a focus on the successful treatment of the panic disorder via a CBT approach. The patient has had only one episode of psychosis. The cognitive model of panic disorder is used as a template to consider this young man's psychotic experiences, in the context of some types of delusional beliefs, especially those involving the catastrophic and atypical misinterpretation of the physiological sensations associated with anxiety. This case emphasises the therapeutic value for certain patients of focussing therapy on the non-psychotic symptoms once the acute psychotic state has been managed.