Panic disorder will strike roughly 3.7% of the population at some point in their lives. Left untreated, it can descend into a chronic, crippling condition.
Caregivers typically rely on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) – in conjunction with pharmaceutical treatments, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – as a front-line treatment. And while it’s certainly effective, the existing literature suffers from a lack of insight into its long-term effects.
At the same time, some novel approaches – such as brief, intensive, or concentrated CBT – are cropping up as encouraging options. One of those, the Bergen 4-Day Treatment (B4DT) has emerged as a robust response to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), as well as showing signs of treating panic disorder.
The B4DT format condenses therapy into a four-day session. The results are dramatic, featuring rapid symptom relief and lower-than-average dropout rates. Previous studies have shown that as soon as a week after treatment, nearly 90% of patients experience notable improvement.
New Research Shows Promise
Now, a new study shows that B4DT offers some lasting benefits. It marks academia’s first foray into evaluating B4DT’s long-term effectiveness for panic disorder. This research project tracked patients for 18 months after treatment. And the results revealed sustained improvements in panic disorder severity, with symptom levels at 18 months statistically indistinguishable from those at the three-month follow-up session.
“It turns out that the improvement not only persists, but it actually gets stronger over time for many,” Norwegian University of Science and Technology associate professor – and a co-author of the study – Kristen Hagen, PhD, explained. “With long-term follow-up, patients report that they feel even better than immediately after therapy, and at the follow-up three months after. The fact that patients get even better over time is simply remarkable.”
In addition to a drop-off in panic-related symptoms, participants also showed improvement in depression and general anxiety. These secondary gains, while not as significant, still support the argument that effective panic disorder treatment can help boost a patient’s overall well-being.
Caveats, And a Call for More Data
Despite these hopeful results, the study does have its limitations. The authors point out that:
- It was an open trial without a control group.
- It was part of routine clinical care.
- And it lacked the blinding of evaluators.
Additionally, data on other treatments received during the follow-up period were unavailable, and functional or quality-of-life measures were not included.
Even so, the study’s strengths included a 100% participation rate at the 18-month follow-up and implementation in a real-world clinical setting. This, the authors contend, boosts its ecological validity while supporting the feasibility of integrating B4DT into standard mental health services.
Overall, the findings suggest that B4DT is more than an effective short-term approach to panic disorder symptom relief. It can also provide real, long-term relief. That being said, the researchers emphasized the need for larger randomized controlled trials to replicate the results. They also stressed the importance of further exploring the long-term impact of intensive CBT formats like B4DT.
Further Reading
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