The review established the paucity of high quality evidence investigating the efficacy of psychotherapy combined with benzodiazepines for panic disorder .
Currently , there is inadequate evidence to assess the clinical effects of psychotherapy combined with benzodiazepines for patients who are diagnosed with panic disorder
BACKGROUND The efficacy of combining psychotherapy and benzodiazepines for panic disorder is unclear , despite widespread use .
OBJECTIVES To examine the efficacy of the combination compared with either treatment alone .
Long-term effects of alprazolam on memory: a 3.5 year follow-up of agoraphobia/panic patients.
BACKGROUND Benzodiazepines ( BZs ) can impair explicit memory after a single dose and also when taken repeatedly for treatment of anxiety disorders . A previous study with agoraphobia/panic patients found that the BZ alprazolam impaired memory during an 8-week treatment and residual impairments were still manifest several weeks after drug withdrawal ( Curran et al. 1994 ) . The present study followed up the same group of patients 3.5 years after treatment to determine whether those memory impairments persisted . METHOD Thirty-one patients , 15 who had originally been treated with alprazolam and 16 with placebo  , were assessed on a battery of psychometric tests and self-rating scales .  RESULTS Ex-alprazolam patients performed at the same levels as ex-placebo patients on the memory task and on other objective tests . Performance levels of both groups were similar to pre-treatment baselines , however there were differences in subjective ratings whereby ex-alprazolam patients rated themselves as less attentive and clear headed and more incompetent and clumsy than ex-placebo patients . CONCLUSIONS Explicit memory impairments found while patients were taking alprazolam and weeks after drug withdrawal did not persist 3.5 years later . We suggest that the memory impairments observed in our previous study weeks after withdrawal of alprazolam were not residual effects of alprazolam but rather were due to the drug 's interference with practice effects on the tests and habituation of anxiety over repeated exposure to the test situation
The review established the paucity of high quality evidence investigating the efficacy of psychotherapy combined with benzodiazepines for panic disorder .
Currently , there is inadequate evidence to assess the clinical effects of psychotherapy combined with benzodiazepines for patients who are diagnosed with panic disorder
BACKGROUND The efficacy of combining psychotherapy and benzodiazepines for panic disorder is unclear , despite widespread use .
OBJECTIVES To examine the efficacy of the combination compared with either treatment alone .