Attention fixation training: training people to form cognitive maps help to control symptoms of panic disorder with agoraphobia

J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 1999 Dec;30(4):273-88. doi: 10.1016/s0005-7916(99)00029-4.

Abstract

Nine individuals diagnosed with panic with agoraphobia received three elements of Attentional Fixation Training (AFT): Directed attention to the external environment, directed topographical synthesis, and directed orientation in space-time to control characteristics of panic. They then walked a standard 2.5 km route and practiced these elements upon entering one of the five panic-inducing situations: (a) walking alone near a busy street with the examiner following at 20 m, (b) walking alone near a busy street with the examiner out of client's visual field, (c) shopping with the examiner present, (d) traveling on a bus alone, and (e) shopping alone. Heart rate was monitored in each of these five situations. Except for the case of using public transport, heart rate activity decreased to a considerable extent during AFT practice suggesting AFT elements provided a good way to control symptoms of panic in vivo. Results were discussed within the confines of a model suggesting that an attentional deficit, which produces a spatial disorientation disorder that maintains both panic and agoraphobia, can efficiently be overcome by means of all three AFT tools.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Agoraphobia / complications
  • Agoraphobia / therapy*
  • Attention*
  • Behavior Therapy / methods*
  • Desensitization, Psychologic
  • Female
  • Heart Rate
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Models, Psychological
  • Orientation*
  • Panic Disorder / complications
  • Panic Disorder / therapy*
  • Treatment Outcome