Personality Disorders in Panic Patients: Response to Termination of Antipanic Medication

The purpose of this study was to: (1) measure the incidence of personality disorders in a sample of 30 panic disorder patients, (2) examine the association between personality disorder and response to termination of successful pharmacologie treatment of panic attacks, and (3) evaluate the interaction of concurrent personality disorder and type of pharmacological treatment with response to termination of antipanic medication. All subjects were treated with imipramine, alprazolam, or placebo in a double-blind trial. Fifty-two percent of the sample met criteria for a personality disorder, most frequently avoidant personality disorder. Subjects who relapsed after termination of antipanic medication were more likely to report an Axis-II disorder than were nonrelapsers. Both concurrent personality disorders and nature of pharmacologie treatment appeared to be associated with response to termination of medication (relapse vs. nonrelapse). Methodological limitations precluded assessing the interaction of pretreatment personality disorders and type of pharmacological intervention with relapse.