The effects of analytic group therapy compared with pharmacotherapy in patients with anxiety disorders

Abstract

Background: Psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy are both effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders. However, drugs in pharmacotherapy are often compared with placebo controls, and psychotherapy is mostly compared to patients in the waiting list as the controls. We aimed to compare the effects of analytic group therapy with pharmacotherapy in patients with anxiety disorders.

Methods: In this clinical trial study in Tehran, 65 patients (10 males, 55 females) presenting with a primary diagnosis of panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and/or mixed anxiety-depressive disorder (based on a structured clinical interview by a psychiatrist) were enlisted during the period from 2016 to 2018. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: drug therapy (group D, 33 patients), or drug therapy + analytic group therapy (group G, 32 patients). Anxiety was assessed in both groups before and immediately after treatment by the Persian version of the Hamilton Anxiety scale (HAM-A). Collected data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software version 21.

Results: Both groups showed a statistically significant decline in HAM-A scores after the treatment. However, group G had a greater significant change in anxiety score compared to group D. The mean decline of HAM-A was 25.694.82 for group G and 23.214.64 for group D. The HAM-A score was significantly reduced in group G compared to group D (p = 0.039).

Conclusion: This study showed that psychodynamic psychotherapy could improve the pharmacotherapy effects and is superior to pharmacotherapy alone.