PHARMACOTHERAPY OF PANIC DISORDER - DIFFERENTIAL EFFICACY FROM A CLINICAL VIEWPOINT

Antidepressants and high-potency benzodiazepines have been used to tre at patients with panic disorder. This review considers the efficacy of these treatments in reducing panic attack frequency and in addition c onsiders their ability to attenuate global anxiety, depressive symptom atology, agoraphobic avoidance, and overall impairment. An extensive d atabase is available for the tricyclic antidepressants imipramine and clomipramine, the serotonin selective reuptake inhibitor paroxetine, a nd the benzodiazepine alprazolam. The antidepressants are more effecti ve than the benzodiazepines in reducing associated depressive symptoma tology and are at least as effective for improving anxiety, agoraphobi a, and overall impairment.