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Background: Individuals with major depression frequently have panic attacks, and often panic disorder, but rarely have researchers studied the impact of comorbidity of panic on the outcome of psychological treatment of depression., Methods: In this study, patients with comorbid panic and depression were first treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for panic. Depression symptoms in this treated group were compared to a group of patients with major depression who were on a minimal therapist contact waitlist. In the second phase of the study, patients in both groups (comorbid and depression-only) were treated with CBT for depression., Results: CBT for panic had little effect on co-existing depression, suggesting a specificity of action for CBT directed at different disorders. In addition, the presence of current or recently remitted panic attacks or agoraphobic avoidance did not interfere with the outcome of CBT for depression., Conclusion: These findings stand in contrast to previous studies showing greater linkage between depression and panic in treatment outcome., Limitations: While there are implications for treatment planning, these conclusions may be limited by the exclusion criteria and the highly structured treatment approach of separating treatment for panic from treatment for depression.

Panic disorder and major depression frequently coexist, yet the implications of comorbidity for psychological treatments have rarely been studied. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether pretreatment comorbidity of major depression affects the outcome of cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) of panic disorder. Thirty-seven clients who met diagnostic criteria for both panic and major depression participated in 10 sessions of individual CBT for panic. Treatment outcome was contrasted with the outcome of 53 clients having only panic disorder who received the same treatment. The co-occurrence of depression did not adversely affect CBT for panic. These results have implications for clinical practice and theoretical implications for the nature of the relationship between panic and depression.