EMDR and the Anxiety Disorders: Exploring the Current Status

Abstract

Based on the assumptions of Shapiro’s adaptive information-processing model, it could be argued that a large proportion of people suffering from an anxiety disorder would benefit from eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). This article provides an overview of the current empirical evidence on the application of EMDR for the anxiety disorders spectrum other than posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Reviewing the existing literature, it is disappointing to find that 20 years after its introduction, support for the efficacy of EMDR for other conditions than PTSD is still scarce. Randomized outcome research is limited to panic disorder with agoraphobia and spider phobia. The results suggest that EMDR is generally more effective than no-treatment control conditions or nonspecific interventions but less effective than existing evidence-based (i.e., exposure-based) interventions. However, since these studies were based on incomplete protocols and limited treatment courses, questions about the relative efficacy of EMDR for the treatment of anxiety disorders remain largely unanswered.

The impact of eye movements and tones on disturbing memories involving PTSD and other mental disorders

“…To this end, EMDR is increasingly applied as a treatment for other (anxiety) disorders (De Jongh & Ten Broeke, 2009), such as driving phobias (De Jongh, Holmshaw, Carswell, & van Wijk, 2011), and other conditions and symptoms that developed following an adverse event (see for instance De Jongh & Ten Broeke, 2010;Maxfield & Melnyk, 2000). If the working memory model is a valid explanation for what occurs during EMDR, it would mean that taxing working memory is effective in resolving negative memories that play a role in, or underlie, a broad variety of psychological symptoms and conditions.…”

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing for Treating Panic Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Besides CBT, EMDR is recommended as a first-line treatment for psychological trauma (Bisson et al, 2007 ). Despite the well-examined efficacy of EMDR for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the applicability of EMDR for other anxiety disorders, like PD, has hardly been examined (De Jongh and ten Broeke, 2009 ). There are several reasons why EMDR could be useful in the treatment of PD.…”

“…Goldstein et al ( 2000 ) showed that EMDR was superior to the waitlist condition on panic and agoraphobia severity, albeit no significant change was apparent on cognitive measures or on panic attack frequency. Importantly, these studies only included a short EMDR procedure and some essential parts of the current EMDR protocol (e.g., the installation of a “future template”) were lacking (De Jongh and ten Broeke, 2009 ). More recently, a pilot study comparing 12 sessions of EMDR to CBT for PD, found no differences between both treatments, except that EMDR resulted in significantly less frequent panic attacks (Faretta, 2013 ).…”

Reducing anxiety and enhancing physical performance by using an advanced version of EMDR: a pilot study

“…). De Jongh and ten Broeke () found that there is randomized outcome research for panic disorders (PD) and specific (i.e., spider) phobia, but not for other anxiety disorders (i.e., social phobia, obsessive‐compulsive disorder, and general anxiety disorders [GAD]).…”

“…There are several studies which could show that eye movements (EMDR) can decrease the emotional intensity of anxiety (Muris and Merckelbach 1997 ; De Jongh et al 2002 ; Graham and Robinson 2007 ; Smeets et al 2012 ). De Jongh and ten Broeke ( 2009 ) found that there is randomized outcome research for panic disorders (PD) and specific (i.e., spider) phobia, but not for other anxiety disorders (i.e., social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and general anxiety disorders [GAD]).…”