Relapse rate and expression of anger in a double-blind.

The purpose of this study was to assess the rate of panic relapse during discontinuation of antipanic medication and the effect of cognitive-behavioural therapy addition. A possible correlation between panic symptomatology and expression of anger was investigated. Ten panic patients treated with effective antipanic pharmacological agents (anti-depressant or clonazepam) for a 1.65 ± 0.55 years, were randomly assigned in a two group double-blind discontinuation design to one of two medication taper conditions. 1. Four week taper condition. 2. Four week taper condition plus cognitive behavioral therapy. All the patients in our study relapsed between 1-16 weeks during the postdicontinuation (placebo) period. The cognitive behavioural therapy did not significantly affect the rate of relapse or severity of panic attack. Expression of anger did not significantly change during discontinuation or during relapse. The results of this study may suggest that long-term pharmacological treatment can be prescribed for some panic disorder patients