After the acute phase treatment , as long as the drug was continued , the superiority of the combination over either monotherapy appeared to persist .
BACKGROUND Panic disorder can be treated with pharmacotherapy , psychotherapy or in combination , but the relative merits of combined therapy have not been well established .
OBJECTIVES To review evidence concerning short- and long-term advantages and disadvantages of combined psychotherapy plus antidepressant treatment for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia , in comparison with either therapy alone .
The management of severe agoraphobia: A comparison of iproniazid and systematic desensitization
Sixty out- patients with severe agoraphobia took part in a controlled prospect i ve clinical trial of combinations of methohexitone-assisted and st and ard systematic desensitization and monoamine oxidase inhibitor . Severity of agoraphobia in terms of avoidance and anxiety was rated both by the patients themselves and by an independent assessor during the eight weeks of treatment . The monoamine oxidase inhibitor produced a significant reduction in severity of anxiety but not of avoidance .  Methohexitone-assisted systematic desensitization appeared to produce significantly greater improvement than either st and ard systematic desensitization or no systematic desensitization in both anxiety and avoidance . Assessors ' ratings showed that the monoamine oxidase inhibitor used in conjunction with methohexitone-assisted systematic desnsitization produced slightly greater clinical improvement than the other treatment combinations
After the acute phase treatment , as long as the drug was continued , the superiority of the combination over either monotherapy appeared to persist .
BACKGROUND Panic disorder can be treated with pharmacotherapy , psychotherapy or in combination , but the relative merits of combined therapy have not been well established .
OBJECTIVES To review evidence concerning short- and long-term advantages and disadvantages of combined psychotherapy plus antidepressant treatment for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia , in comparison with either therapy alone .