Killing Two Birds With One Stone: Exposure Simultaneously Addressing Panic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Massed exposure has gained acceptance as an effective method to treat anxiety disorders. When using this intervention in patients presenting with more than one anxiety disorder, specific treatment options need to be discussed. Should exposure be applied in sequential order for each of the comorbid d...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Reinecke, A, Hoyer, J
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2010
_version_ 1797092564072923136
author Reinecke, A
Hoyer, J
author_facet Reinecke, A
Hoyer, J
author_sort Reinecke, A
collection OXFORD
description Massed exposure has gained acceptance as an effective method to treat anxiety disorders. When using this intervention in patients presenting with more than one anxiety disorder, specific treatment options need to be discussed. Should exposure be applied in sequential order for each of the comorbid disorders? Or can exposure sessions also be designed to simultaneously target both problem areas? We report on the cognitive-behavioral treatment of a 28-year-old woman with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and severe panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA). A series of behavioral experiments based on prolonged exposure was planned. Due to the fact that avoided situations elicited both agoraphobic and contamination fears, we decided to combine exposure for PDA and OCD to optimize therapeutic transfer. Twelve sessions of this exposure resulted in a long-term reduction of both PDA and OCD symptoms. The case illustrates that two comorbid conditions can be effectively combined under one therapeutic rationale. Capabilities and limitations of the method and implications for current theoretical debates on exposure therapy are discussed. © 2010.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T03:47:45Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:c01b3fa4-6111-4774-86b3-7ef2e84b6255
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T03:47:45Z
publishDate 2010
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:c01b3fa4-6111-4774-86b3-7ef2e84b62552022-03-27T05:52:11ZKilling Two Birds With One Stone: Exposure Simultaneously Addressing Panic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:c01b3fa4-6111-4774-86b3-7ef2e84b6255EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2010Reinecke, AHoyer, JMassed exposure has gained acceptance as an effective method to treat anxiety disorders. When using this intervention in patients presenting with more than one anxiety disorder, specific treatment options need to be discussed. Should exposure be applied in sequential order for each of the comorbid disorders? Or can exposure sessions also be designed to simultaneously target both problem areas? We report on the cognitive-behavioral treatment of a 28-year-old woman with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and severe panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA). A series of behavioral experiments based on prolonged exposure was planned. Due to the fact that avoided situations elicited both agoraphobic and contamination fears, we decided to combine exposure for PDA and OCD to optimize therapeutic transfer. Twelve sessions of this exposure resulted in a long-term reduction of both PDA and OCD symptoms. The case illustrates that two comorbid conditions can be effectively combined under one therapeutic rationale. Capabilities and limitations of the method and implications for current theoretical debates on exposure therapy are discussed. © 2010.
spellingShingle Reinecke, A
Hoyer, J
Killing Two Birds With One Stone: Exposure Simultaneously Addressing Panic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
title Killing Two Birds With One Stone: Exposure Simultaneously Addressing Panic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
title_full Killing Two Birds With One Stone: Exposure Simultaneously Addressing Panic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
title_fullStr Killing Two Birds With One Stone: Exposure Simultaneously Addressing Panic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
title_full_unstemmed Killing Two Birds With One Stone: Exposure Simultaneously Addressing Panic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
title_short Killing Two Birds With One Stone: Exposure Simultaneously Addressing Panic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
title_sort killing two birds with one stone exposure simultaneously addressing panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder
work_keys_str_mv AT reineckea killingtwobirdswithonestoneexposuresimultaneouslyaddressingpanicdisorderandobsessivecompulsivedisorder
AT hoyerj killingtwobirdswithonestoneexposuresimultaneouslyaddressingpanicdisorderandobsessivecompulsivedisorder