Characteristics of panic disorder patients responding to placebo

In 2007 a paper published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinaviea forty one panic disorder patients receiving placebo were investigated in a double-blind comparison of alprazolam, imipramine and placebo in panic disorder. A significantly higher drop-out rate was found in the placebo group than in the active treatment groups, but placebo response was found in 34% of the patients, defined as reduction of panic attacks to zero. The placebo treatment did not work for every patient but it did for a significant number – the paper hypothesised that those who responded well to the placebo showed more signs of realistic processing of internal and external stimuli and fewer signs of subjective distress than the non-responders. Responders would therefore probably be more responsive to psychotherapy than non-responders.

NK Rosenberg, M Mellergard, R Rosenberg, P Beck, JO Ottosson - Characteristics of panic disorder patients responding to placebo