View clinical trials related to Panic Disorder.
Filter by:Anxiety disorders are characterized by exaggerated levels of fear that are not proportional to the actual level of threat. More specifically, anxiety patients have marked deficits in the downregulation of fear reactions during situations of objective safety. Pre-clinical research on Pavlovian fear conditioning and extinction has discovered that fear downregulation stems from areas in the prefrontal cortex (the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex, vmPFC) that recruit intercalated cells in the amygdala to inhibit its central nucleus, which is responsible for a variety of behavioral expressions of fear (Milad & Quirk, 2012). Accordingly, functional magnetic resonance imaging studies (fMRI) revealed reduced vmPFC activity coupled with increased fear reactions during situations of objective safety in anxiety patients (Milad et al., 2009). Another core symptom of anxiety disorders, though much less investigated, is the excessive avoidance of situations that trigger the fears. These 'safety behaviors' often interfere with daily life activities and valued goals in life, and they are thought to perpetuate the exaggerated levels of fear by precluding opportunities to learn that the feared situations are actually not dangerous. Surprisingly, experimental research on avoidance behaviors in anxiety patients is virtually non-existent. This experiment modifies the Pavlovian fear conditioning procedure to include avoidance, and explores the behavioral and neural processes of this type of fear regulation in anxiety patients (trans-diagnostically) and healthy individuals.
The collection of patient self-report and diagnostic data will allow us to examine the efficacy of the treatment delivered in the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program. Using data gathered through routine clinical care, the investigators seek to explore whether patients in treatment show improvements from admission to discharge, compared to patients on the waitlist, and whether these gains are maintained three months post-discharge. The following are included as examples of some of the study's hypotheses.
This 8-week, pilot randomized, controlled trial to evaluate the benefits of transdiagnostic Internet-based CBT (iCBT) in young adults with MDD, SAD, PD or GAD. The investigators hypothesize that patients who receive iCBT will show significant improvement in anxiety symptoms and functioning, compared to a wait-list group. This pilot randomized controlled study will assess the efficacy of transdiagnostic iCBT in 60 young adults.
Background: There is need for more effectiveness studies concerning treatment of emotional symptom problems indicating anxiety and depression in adolescents. SMART is the only treatment manual for combined emotional disorders developed in Norwegian. Purpose: To find the best individualized treatment for adolescents with emotional difficulties by: Finding criteria for the selection of appropriate patients for treatment with cognitive-behavior therapy program SMART in an outpatient population (14-18 years). Finding predictors of completion of treatment program SMART. Examining the effects of treatment with the SMART program at 6 months follow-up. Design: A randomized controlled study in six outpatient clinics in the north of Norway. N= 160 referred adolescents (14-18 years) with score above 6 on the Emotional Problems scale of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Two thirds are treated according to the SMART-manual immediately, while the waiting list control group is treated with SMART after six weeks. Hypothesis: The SMART treatment is an effective treatment for emotional symptom problems. Publication: The results sought published internationally and nationally and will be communicated to clinicians.
The aim of the current study was to test the efficacy of an individually administered, brief (5-session) transdiagnostic treatment for anxiety disorders. The current treatment (called F-SET) focuses chiefly on the elimination of anxiety maintaining behaviors and cognitive strategies (so-called "safety" aids) among individuals suffering from a range of anxiety disorders including generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD) and panic disorder (PD). We hypothesized that the F-SET protocol would produce better overall outcome relative to a waitlist control.
The essential arterial hypotension and allostasis registry is a prospective, observational research that has the purpose of demonstrating that essential blood pressure (BP) disorders and the associated comorbidities are a result of the inappropriate allostatic response to daily life stress. This required a functioning brain orchestrating the evaluation of the threat and choosing the response, this is a mind-mediated phenomenon. If the response is excessive it contributes to high BP, if deficient to low BP, and the BP itself will identify the allostatic pattern, which in turn will play an important role in the development of the comorbidities. To do so, consecutive patients of any age and gender that visit a cardiologist's office in Medellin, Colombia, are recruited. Individuals are classified according to their arterial BP and allostasis and follow them in time to see what kind of diseases develops the most (including BP) in the follow up according to the categorization of the characteristic chosen and after adjustment for confounder's variables. In addition, stress events with their date are registered. HYPOTHESIS The causes of the diseases are multifactorial. Physical, biochemical, psychological, social, and cultural dimensions of development dynamically interact to shape the health development process. A person´s health depends on their: 1. Biological and physiologic systems 2. External and internal environment (a) physical, b) internal behavioural and arousal state as registered by the brain. 3. Their interaction. The allostatic mechanisms to the internal and external stressors (allostatic load) involves a network composed by: 1. Functional systems; mediated by: 1. The Autonomic Nervous System 2. The endocrine system 3. The immune system 2. Structural changes: whenever the internal and/or external stressors are long lasting and/or strength enough, they may induce changes in: 1. Epigenetic, endophenotypes, polyphenism. 2. Plasticity 3. The interaction between a) and b). The network response do not affect exclusively the BP, propitiating the development of comorbidities, which may prompt strategies for prevention, recognition and ultimately, treatment. The allostatic model defines health as a state of responsiveness. The concept of psycho-biotype: The allostasis is the result of both: biological (allostasis) and psychological (psychostasis) abilities. It is proposed that both components behave in similar direction and magnitude. Immune disorders may be associated with the development of cancer. High BP population has a higher sympathetic and lower vagal tone, this has been associated with a decrease in the immune´s system function. Resources and energy depletion: Terms like weathering have been used to describe how exposures to different allostatic loads gradually scrape away at the protective coating that keeps people healthy. It is postulated that High BP individuals have more resources and energy.
BACKGROUND: Smartphone technology presents a novel and promising opportunity to extend the reach of psychotherapeutic interventions by moving selected parts of the therapy into the real-life situations causing distress. This randomised controlled trial will investigate the effect of a transdiagnostic, Internet-administered cognitive behavioural (iCBT) self-help program for anxiety, supplemented with a tailored smartphone application. The effect of added therapist support will also be studied. METHODS/DESIGN: 150 participants meeting diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder will be evenly randomised to one of three treatment arms: (1) smartphone-supplemented iCBT with therapist support; (2) smartphone-supplemented iCBT without therapist support; or (3) an active waiting list control group with delayed treatment. After the 10 week treatment period, the control group (3) will receive the same treatment as group (2). Primary outcome measure will be the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item self-rating scale. Secondary measures include other anxiety, depression and quality of life measures. In addition to pre- and post-treatment measurements, the study includes two mid-treatment and two follow-up assessments (12 and 24 months). HYPOTHESES: Based on prior research, we hypothesise that the therapist-guided form will be superior to the unguided form in reducing anxiety levels, and that both delivery modes will be superior to an active waiting-list control group.
The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of the Canary Breathing System (CBS) in treating the symptoms of panic disorder.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a brief, efficient, and effective psychotherapy for individuals with depressive and anxiety disorders. However, CBT is largely underutilized within Veteran Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs) due to the cost and burden of trainings necessary to deliver the large number of CBT protocols. Transdiagnostic CBT, in contrast, is specifically designed to address numerous distinct disorders within a single protocol. This transdiagnostic approach has the potential to dramatically improve the accessibility of CBT within VAMCs and therefore improve clinical outcomes of Veterans. The proposed research seeks to evaluate the efficacy of a transdiagnostic CBT by assessing clinical outcomes and quality of life in VAMC patients with depressive and anxiety disorders throughout the course of treatment and in comparison to an existing evidence-based psychotherapy, behavioral activation treatment.
The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the efficacy of d-cycloserine in augmenting treatment of smoking cessation for individuals with panic attacks. The investigators hypothesize that individuals receiving DCS (versus those receiving placebo) will evidence greater smoking abstinence rates and decreased panic symptoms after receiving a combined CBT-based treatment for smokers with panic attacks.