Effect of Dissociative Experiences on Drug Treatment of Panic Disorder

Abstract

This study shows that dissociative experiences reduce the response to drug therapy in patients with panic disorder.

Open-longitudinal study of the effect of dissociative symptoms on the response of patients with panic disorder to venlafaxine

“…There is only one similar study we found in the literature which was performed by using Dissociative Experience Scale (DES) and Panic and Agoraphobia Scale (PAS). Patients in that study were divided into two groups with the same method and a significant decrease was found in the PAS scores of the group with low DES scores [26]. It might be caused by administration of alprazolam together with paroxetine for a certain period of time.…”

“…No drugs other than venlafaxine were administered to the patients. There are several studies suggesting that dissociative symptoms have negative effects on response to the treatment of psychiatric disorders [26]. However, there is only one study investigating this effect within the context of pharmacotherapy.…”

“…That study was designed as a 6-week long, open-ended, longitudinal study in which 35 patients were included. Alprazolam was added to treatment of 17 patients for a certain time [26].…”

“…Results of these studies depict that dissociative symptoms with comorbid PD negatively affect psychotherapeutic [24,25] and psychopharmacologic [26] treatment outcomes.…”

Bipolar Affective Disorder and Dissociation - Comparison With Healthy Controls

“…High level of dissociation is typical for patients with borderline personality disorders 5,13 . The level of dissociation can be one of the reasons for treatment resistance in panic disorder patients [14][15][16] , as well as in the case of patients suffering from OCD [17][18][19] . Dissociation might be a predictor of negative treatment outcome in cognitive-behavioural therapy for patients with anxiety disorders 10 and obsessive compulsive disorder 20 .…”