The analytical Process in the Treatment of a Panic Disorder

Panic disorder can interfere with a person's social and occupational functioning. Psychopharmacologic and cognitive-behavioral interventions, while helpful for symptomatic treatment, may produce only short-term gains. The following case is of a businessman who presented for treatment with panic disorder with agoraphobia that compromised his work and personal life. Psychopharmacologic and non-insight-oriented approaches had produced minimal symptom relief. A 14-month period of psychoanalytic treatment, the first phase of a longer psychoanalysis, was effective in the treatment of his panic attacks. Alleviation of his symptoms involved the analysis of Oedipal conflicts, sibling rivalry, other aggressive derivatives as well as understanding the meaning and effect of his childhood enuresis on his character development. The therapeutic result of this treatment was due, at least in part, to a psychoanalytic process in which anxieties and conflicts were identified, interpreted, and discussed in the context of the transference as a vehicle for therapeutic change.