Cognitive therapy for panic disorder: The impact of medication discontinuation on symptoms

Little is known about the impact of withdrawal and discontinuation of medic ation during cognitive treatment for panic disorder This naturalistic study was designed to gather initial evidence on this question. The sample for t his study consisted of patients who had participated in a comparative outco me study on cognitive therapy for panic disorder. Of 21 patients zi,ho were taking medication while receiving cognitive therapy, 9 were able to withdr awn their medication by termination, and remained medication-free at 1-year follow-up. The results revealed a significant decrease in the frequency of panic attacks and improvement on other, symptom measures kat termination a nd at 1-year follow-up, regardless of medication status. Withdrawal and dis continuation of medication did not result in relapse and did not reduce the effectiveness of cognitive therapy. Implications for clinical decision mak ing are described.