Panic disorder and hypochondriasis

One hundred panic disorder patients were compared with a similar number of normal controls on the Arabic version of hypochondriacal scale and the panic symptoms questionnaire to elucidate the difference between panic patients and normal population in rating the severity of symptoms of panic and hypochondriasis. The correlation between panic symptoms and hypochondriasis in each group was explored. Results showed that panic disorder [PD] patients in both groups scored higher on hypochondriasis. It also showed that the ideational component is relevant to both panic and hypochondriasis. The nature and consistency of both diagnostic categories were discussed

Panic disorder: a clinical study

This study is concerned with the clinical and demographic aspects of panic disorder. One hundred any fifty patients were interviewed in a private psychiatric clinic. They were diagnosed according to DSM-III-R criteria. The results showed that the prevalence of panic disorder among anxiety disorders is rather high [14.5%]. This study showed a certain pattern of association between panic disorder and the other diagnostic categories. Six subgroups were emerged. Namely panic disorder alone [17.3%], or panic disorder with one of the following psychiatric categories: agoraphobia [12%], social phobia [10.6%], depression [26%], simple phobia [15.3%] and generalized anxiety [18.6%]. The results confirm the comorbidity with other diagnostic categories. The results of comparison between the six sub-groups in relation to the severity of symptoms has failed to find differences among different diagnostic categories. However, the correlation between the severity of symptoms and precipitating factors was weakly supported. The Cognitive component of the study was discussed. Suggestions for future research were made

Panic disorder: alprazolam versus cognitive therapy

Thirty nine outpatients with panic disorder without agoraphobia were randomly assigned to indivisual treatment with either alprazolam [n = 20] or cognitive therapy [CT] [n = 19] for a period of twelve weeks. CT patients received an average of 17.6 sessions while alprazolam patients received an average of 2.4 mg, daily. Both treatment groups showed statistically significant decrease in panic symptoms as measured by panic symptom questionnaire [Derived from DSMIIl-R] and self rating scale both of which contains 1-7 score. HAM - A and heart rate showed a significant decrease in alprazolam and not CT patients, denoting improvement in generalized anxiety as well as panic symptoms. The data suggest that both treatments are effective in the treatment of panic disorder