Cognitive behavioral therapy for postpartum panic disorder: a case series

Abstract

Background: Clinical anxiety is common during the perinatal period, and anxiety symptoms often persist after childbirth. Ten to 30 % of perinatal women are diagnosed with panic disorder (PD)-far more than the 1.5-3% rate among the general population. Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been determined to be an effective treatment for PD, few studies have been conducted on CBT effectiveness in treating postpartum PD and, to the best of the knowledge of the present authors, no research has been conducted on postpartum PD among Japanese women. In this manuscript, we report on our administration of CBT to three postpartum patients with PD, detailing the improvement in their symptoms. Case presentation: All patients in this study were married, in their thirties, and diagnosed using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview as having PD with agoraphobia. The Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) was used to evaluate patients' panic symptoms and their severity. All patients received a total of 16 weekly 50-min sessions of CBT, and all completed the treatment. All patients were exceedingly preoccupied with the perception that a "mother must protect her child," which reinforced the fear that "the continuation of their perinatal symptoms would prevent them from rearing their children". After treatment, all participants' panic symptoms were found to have decreased according to the PDSS, and two no longer met clinical criteria: Chihiro's score changed from 13 to 3, Beth's PDSS score at baseline from 22 to 6, and Tammy's score changed from 7 to 1. Conclusions: CBT provides a therapeutic effect and is a feasible method for treating postpartum PD. It is important that therapists prescribe tasks that patients can perform collaboratively with their children.

Blended cognitive behavioural therapy for adolescents with panic disorder co-morbid with autism spectrum disorder: a case study

“…Lucy was an ASD patient with both PD and agoraphobia. We conducted blended CBT using digital teaching materials following the Seki and Shimizu CBT model (Matsumoto et al, 2019). The leading author as the therapist was able to support Lucy in real time.…”

“…The CBT model is intended to help patients with PD understand that central to their difficulties is the catastrophic misunderstanding of bodily sensations and to challenge this through a range of behavioural and cognitive methods. Therefore, a simplified case formulation was collaboratively developed based on the Seki and Shimizu model (Matsumoto et al, 2019) during session 3 ( Fig. 1).…”

“…As mentioned earlier, this study's cognitive behavioural model was based on the Seki and Shimizu model (Matsumoto et al, 2019); the therapist also innovatively conducted CBT, taking into consideration the cognitive nature of autism (Tables 1 and 2). As far as the authors know, there are no previous practical reports on the Seki and Shimizu model for use in treating panic disorder and agoraphobia in children, adolescents or ASD patients.…”

“…colour, sound, smell and tactile sensation) and (2) then alternate between internal information (e.g. breathlessness and palpitations) and external information (Matsumoto et al, 2019). Lucy's poor imagination was remarkable during attention training.…”

“…Matsumoto, K., Sato, K., Hamatani, S., Shirayama, Y., & Shimizu, E. (2019). Cognitive behavioral therapy for postpartum panic disorder: a case series.…”