Catastrophic cognitions in panic disorder with and without agoraphobia

Exploring mechanisms of change: The relationships between cognitions, symptoms, and quality of life over the course of group cognitive-behaviour therapy

“…More recently, Casey et al (2005) reported that early change in panic severity during a CBT program was predicted by both catastrophic misinterpretation and self-efficacy cognitions, independently, using time period analyses in a cross-sectional study. A number of other studies have found an association between reductions in symptoms and changes in maladaptive cognitions (Furlong and Oei, 2002;Khawaja and Oei, 1998;Casey et al, 2004 a, b). However, there has been limited evidence as to the direction of causation in these studies.…”

An integrative assessment of brain and body function ‘at rest’ in panic disorder: A combined quantitative EEG/autonomic function study

“…However, for panic disordered subjects, a period of sitting without distraction within an unfamiliar laboratory environment would likely represent a relatively threatening, anxiogenic situation (Grillon, 2008;Fonteyne et al, 2009;Pfaltz et al, 2009). For example, compared to healthy controls, individuals with PD are more likely to rate a confined laboratory environment as anxiety provoking (Argyle, 1991) and, when anxious, are especially prone to become hypervigilant for bodily sensations that may signify impending panic (Barlow, 2002;Beck and Clark, 1997;Khawaja and Oei, 1998). As somatic and environmental cues vie for limited attention and neural processing resources (Pennebaker, 2000), somatic cues during REC may have more successfully engaged patients' attention given the absence of visual competition.…”

An evidence-based causal model of panic disorder

“…There has been little support for the role of self-efficacy as a causal mechanism in panic disorder; instead, self-efficacy has been shown to improve as a result of other interventions (i.e., Bitran, Morrisette, Spiegel, & Barlow, 2008). There is much more empirical support for the role of catastrophic misinterpretations of bodily sensations as a causal mechanism in panic (Khawaja & Oei, 1998). Additionally, the role of anxiety sensitivity (AS) seems to be included as an afterthought when more recent evidence has indicated that AS may actually play a central role in the development of panic disorder and other anxiety disorders (Olatunji & WolitzkyTaylor, 2009).…”