Rapid 4-day panic disorder treatment shows impressive long-term results

According to promising research published by BMC Psychiatry, a concentrated four-day panic disorder approach not only relieves immediately, but continues to improve patients’ health for a long time after treatment is over. The innovative Bergen 4-day treatment (B4DT) represents a significant advancement in the treatment of millions of diseases around the world.

Beyond short-term relief: the lasting power of concentrated therapy

Panic disorder is characterized by repeated unexpected panic attacks followed by significant behavioral changes that affect about 3.7% of people throughout their lifetime. Without treatment, the disease usually becomes chronic, greatly reducing quality of life and increasing health care utilization.

“The most exciting thing is that we are solving a problem that has been an empty problem for nearly 70 years,” said UT Austin physicist Josh Burby, who works on unrelated projects.

Similarly, this breakthrough in panic disorder treatment solves the long-term challenges in mental health care: providing effective treatments that produce lasting results.

Norwegian researchers followed 30 patients receiving B4DT and found that the improvement not only continued, but actually strengthened over time. During the 18-month follow-up assessment, 90% of patients were classified as being in remission, with panic disorder symptoms reduced from the mean score of 19.83 to just 2.60 at long-term follow-up.

Major findings from the study

• Symptoms continue to decrease after treatment, further improving between 3-month and 18-month follow-up
• Treatment not only relieves panic symptoms
• The effect size is very large (d = 5.03), indicating a great clinical improvement
• At long-term follow-up, 86.7% of patients were classified as “very improved”

“As time goes by, patients become better,” said Kristen Hagen, NTNU psychologist and associate professor who served as senior author of the study.

Four-day treatment work

With traditional cognitive behavioral therapy that may span weekly weeks or months, B4DT will condense treatment into intensive treatment for four consecutive days. Groups of three to six patients worked with an equal number of therapists to receive personalized treatment in the support group settings.

The focus of this treatment is on exposure therapy, and patients practice the face of situations and physical sensations that are usually avoided. What’s unique about this approach is that it emphasizes changing the patient’s intention or “project” during exposure. Rather than simply endure anxiety, the patient tries to prevent the consequences of fear, but learns to deal with thought-provoking situations with a completely different mindset.

Can this intensive approach replace traditional weekly panic disorder treatment? There is growing evidence that despite the warning that a large number of controlled studies are still needed to confirm these promising results.

Outlook: Impact on Mental Health Treatment

The concentrated nature of B4DT has several potential advantages over traditional therapeutic forms. By completing treatment in just four days, patients had a smaller dropout rate, faster response, and greater reduction in comorbid symptoms. This format can also make treatment more accessible, especially for those who work hard to attend weekly classes due to work restrictions, family obligations, or geographical barriers.

Originally developed for obsessive-compulsive disorder, B4DT has been successfully adapted to panic disorder and implemented in multiple treatment sites, suggesting that its principle may be widely applicable in anxiety disorders.

Although these results are encouraging, the researchers acknowledged limitations, including a smaller sample size and a lack of controls. Future studies of large samples and randomized control designs are critical to fully validate the long-term effectiveness of this promising treatment.