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Successful Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy of Panic Disorder also Helps Comorbid Psychiatric Conditions: Presented at ADAA

By Alison Palkhivala

TORONTO, ON -- April 1, 2003 -- Successfully treating panic disorder with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) appears to reduce the symptoms of other comorbid psychiatric conditions, such as depression and other anxiety disorders.

Lead author Raphael D. Rose, PhD, from the University of California at Los Angeles, presented the findings March 28^th at the 23^rd Annual Conference of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.

The research team randomized 42 patients with panic disorder and at least one comorbid condition into 1 of 2 groups. All subjects participated in 12 group sessions of panic control treatment plus 6 individual sessions over 12 weeks. Half the participants received individual sessions focused on panic control, while the other half received individual sessions focused on their most severe comorbid condition.

Responses to therapy were measured using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Revised (ADIS-R).

Baseline demographic and clinical variables were similar for both groups. The comorbid disorders most commonly seen in addition to panic disorder were depression/dysthymia, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder and specific phobias.

At the end of the 12 weeks of therapy, both groups of patients improved with respect to their panic symptoms as well as the symptoms of their comorbid conditions.

In the treatment group that focused on panic symptoms only, there were fewer participants with at least one comorbid condition at 12 months of follow-up, when subclinical comorbidities were taken into account. However, there were no differences between the groups on this parameter earlier in follow-up, nor were there differences between the groups in the number of clinical diagnoses of other comorbid disorders.

In general, the more improvement patients experienced with respect to their panic disorder symptoms, the greater the improvement in symptoms associated with their comorbid conditions. By 12 months, this association approached significance.

According to Dr. Rose, "cognitive behavior therapy skills that are learned in panic treatment may be related or applicable to other comorbid conditions. … If successful treatment of anxiety disorders seems to decrease the severity of the target disorder and the comorbid disorders, then perhaps when confronted with comorbidity, it makes sense to treat the most likely disorder to respond most successfully to treatment."


[Study title: Specific vs. Generalized CBT for Panic Disorder and Co-occurring Axis I Disorders. Abstract: 221R]

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