Long-Term Course and Outcome of Panic Disorder

The longitudinal course of panic disorder is an issue of critical clinical and research importance.For many patients, panic disorder may be a manifestation of an underlying, lifelong predisposition toanxiety with a chronic course, often requiring ongoing maintenance therapy. In this paper, we reviewsome of the pertinent follow-up studies of patients with panic disorder treated with antidepressants,high-potency benzodiazepines, and cognitive behavior therapy, as well as data from longitudinalstudies.