Responses to activation and rest in patients with panic disorder and major depression

Abstract

Physical activity may be a trigger for panic attacks in patients with panic disorder, while exercise may have an antidepressant effect in patients with major depression. In order to examine reactions to rest as well as to exercise periods, we assessed physiological responses (heart rate, blood pressure), subjective responses on a visual analogue scale, and attentional responses with the span of apprehension test. Twenty participants met the diagnostic criteria for panic disorder, 20 patients had major depression, and 20 participants served as controls. Patients with major depression showed slower reaction times than participants in the other groups; this difference was more pronounced with increased task difficulty. Physical activation led to lower depression scores in all groups. Patients with panic disorder had elevated anxiety scores after physical activation, but also after rest. Heart rate as well as systolic blood pressure showed the expected acceleration after physical activation, but there were no differences between the groups. Activation did not seem to influence attentional performance as measured by the span of apprehension test. Results are consistent with a cognitive view of panic disorder. In contrast to patients with panic disorder, patients with major depression seem to have an attentional deficit which is more pronounced with more complex cognitive processing.

Physical activity and respiratory behavior in daily life of patients with panic disorder and healthy controls

“…According to cognitive theories of PD (Clark, 1986), this evokes anxiety that, in turn, increases bodily symptoms. In line with this theory, PD patients report increased anxiety and somatic symptoms after physical activation in the laboratory (Rief and Hermanutz, 1996;Ströhle et al, 2009). Given the absence of data regarding periods of activity in our previous report (Pfaltz et al, 2009), it is conceivable that physical activity might have triggered anxiety and corresponding respiratory changes among the PD patients.…”

“…In terms of cognitive theories of PD and laboratory findings (Clark, 1986;Rief and Hermanutz, 1996;Ströhle et al, 2009), one may expect respiratory abnormalities to be associated with physical activity, particularly in PD patients because of their fear of bodily symptoms being reflected in respiratory hyperactivity. This effect should increase with increasing activity levels.…”

Cognitive Behavior Therapy in Panic Disorder and Comorbid Major Depression

“…Furthermore, both disorders may share common biological as well as psychological risk factors. Despite these possible common features, depression and panic disorder can be discriminated on variables of affect and cognition [31]. …”

Anxiety Sensitivity as a Mediator of the Relationship between Moderate-Intensity Exercise and Coping-Oriented Marijuana Use Motives

“…Interoceptive exposure involves repeated confrontation to somatic arousal with the intention of providing an opportunity for a corrective learning experience (i.e., somatic arousal is not dangerous but safe). Because moderate-intensity exercise induces many of the somatic sensations (e.g., heart racing, rapid breathing, and sweating) that high anxiety sensitivity individuals respond to with fear,39 exercise can serve as a means to provide interoceptive exposure 40–42. Here, three studies have demonstrated that an exercise program involving moderate-intensity exercise outperforms waitlist40,42 and low-intensity exercise41 in reducing anxiety sensitivity among healthy adults with clinical levels of anxiety sensitivity.…”