Cognitive-behavioral therapy for panic disorders

This article discusses the treatment of panic disorder in terms of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. Panic disorder is one of the most common anxiety disorders. The etiology of panic disorder assumes the coexistence of genetic and environmental factors. Panic attacks of-ten accompany other mental and somatic diseases. The constant feeling of intense anxiety with a number of somatic symptoms affects the deterioration of every-day functioning, significantly reducing one's quality of life. The global situation caused by SARS-CoV-2 may correlate with the increase in the incidence of panic disorder. The introduction of appropriate ther-apeutic interventions at the earliest possible stage of the disease gives patients a chance for long-term re-mission. So far, it has been proven that the best results of pharmacological treatment are achieved thanks to the antidepressant and benzodiazepine drug groups. One of the non-pharmacological interventions with the highest clinical effectiveness is cognitive -behavio-ral psychotherapy. Compared to other trends, cogni-tive-behavioral therapy is characterized by the most reliable research proving its high effectiveness. Psycho-therapy of panic disorders in the cognitive-behavioral approach includes a complete conceptualization of the patient's problem, taking into account individual the-oretical models. Treatment of panic attacks is based on a protocol which takes into account both cognitive and behavioral interventions, e.g. psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, breathing training, relaxation exercises and both interoceptive and in vivo exposures. Research results indicate that this therapy is an alter-native form of treatment for panic disorders. Sources indicate that the effectiveness of interventions based on cognitive-behavioral therapy is comparable to that of pharmacotherapy.