Intensive weekend group treatment for panic disorder and its impact on co-occurring PTSD: A pilot study

Abstract

This pilot study examines the feasibility, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of delivering an intensive weekend group treatment for panic disorder (PD) to Veterans returning from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan with co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The treatment program lasted 6h each day and was delivered by two experienced therapists. Patients received core components of panic treatment, including psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, and interoceptive exposure. The interoceptive exposure exercises directly targeted anxiety sensitivity, a psychological construct also implicated in the maintenance of PTSD. Eighty-nine percent of patients who expressed interest in the treatment attended a baseline evaluation, and 63% of those who were study eligible initiated treatment. Treatment retention was high, with all 10 patients who initiated treatment completing the program. Veterans reported finding the treatment and delivery format highly acceptable and reported high levels of satisfaction. Panic symptoms improved significantly following the treatment and were maintained at a 7-month follow-up, with 71.4% of the sample reporting being panic free. Co-occurring PTSD symptoms also improved along with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Preliminary findings suggest that brief and intensive group treatments for PD/PTSD are a promising method of delivering cognitive behavioral therapy that may rapidly improve symptoms. This innovative treatment delivery format also may be a cost-effective way of increasing treatment engagement through increased access to quality care.

Importance of knowledge in the behavioural treatment of panic disorder

“…Participants undergoing IPCT receive all components of PCT during two 6-hour treatment sessions on consecutive days. IPCT has demonstrated significant reductions in anxiety sensitivity, panic attack frequency, and panic attack fear, similar to PCT (Teng et al, 2015).…”

“…IPCT (Teng et al, 2015) was adapted from panic control treatment (PCT), an empirically supported, cognitive behavioural treatment for PD (Craske et al, 2000). Components of PCT are typically delivered across 12 weeks in either an individual or group format.…”

Accelerated outpatient individual cognitive‐behaviour therapy for panic disorder: A case study

“…Moderate to large effect sizes were seen on panic related measures from pre‐treatment to post‐treatment (range d = 0.66–2.53), which increased to large effect sizes at seven months post‐treatment (range d = 1.25–2.37; Teng et al, ). In addition, participants also found the intensive treatment to be acceptable (Teng et al, ).…”

“…Secondly, a two‐day accelerated treatment approach has been investigated using both an individual (Deacon & Abramowitz, ) and group (Teng et al, ) treatment format. Deacon and Abramowitz () report the results of a two‐day accelerated treatment for 10 patients with PD consisting of 6 hr of treatment the first day and 3 hr of treatment the second day (9 hr total).…”

“…The results from this study indicated large effect sizes on the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) from pre‐treatment to one‐month follow‐up ( d = 1.73; Deacon & Abramowitz, ). In addition, Teng et al () studied the efficacy of a group aCBT protocol consisting of two days over a weekend (a total of 12 hr) in 10 military veterans who also had comorbid post‐traumatic stress disorder. Moderate to large effect sizes were seen on panic related measures from pre‐treatment to post‐treatment (range d = 0.66–2.53), which increased to large effect sizes at seven months post‐treatment (range d = 1.25–2.37; Teng et al, ).…”