Abstract
The current article reports on the findings from a pilot treatment study on panic disorder (PD) with or without agoraphobia. Consecutively referred patients were included and treated with the Bergen 4-day treatment format. Twenty-nine patients were included, primarily from unsuccessful treatment courses in the Norwegian specialist mental health care system, either ongoing or previously. Prior to treatment, only 34% were able to work but at 3-month follow-up 93% were able to do so. The proportion achieving reliable change on the panic severity measure was 76% post-treatment and 90% at follow-up. The remission rate was 72% at both assessments. These effects are significantly higher than those reported for six standard CBT studies in the literature using the same primary outcome measure (Panic Disorder Severity Scale). It is concluded that the Bergen 4-day treatment is a promising treatment approach for PD, and a randomized controlled trial is warranted.
Highlights
In outpatient specialist mental health care (SMHC) patients with anxiety and depression represent the largest group and have the longest treatment courses (Whiteford et al, 2013)
The present pilot study on panic disorder (PD) describes clinical changes at post-treatment and 3-months follow-up and patient satisfaction with the treatment, and the results presented are part of the quality assessment procedure, which is an integrated part of the 4-day treatment
Three reported earlier exposure treatment, three reported Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy, and 17 had received what was described as psychotherapy, medications, or other forms of therapy
Summary
In outpatient specialist mental health care (SMHC) patients with anxiety and depression represent the largest group and have the longest treatment courses (Whiteford et al, 2013). This rather grim reality exists even though there are evidence-based treatments for all these disorders. A recent 4-year follow-up found that 69% of the patients were recovered 4 years after treatment (Hansen et al, 2018). At the time of inclusion 18 (62.1%) of the patients were in active treatment courses without successful results, with an average duration of 11.7 months (range: 2–30). The mean scores on PDSS for patients with or Variable
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