Cognitive Therapy Best Method for Treating Social Anxiety Disorder

In a new study, researchers found that cognitive therapy is the best method for treating social anxiety. Contrary to common practices, which combined drug treatment with therapy, the new research shows that cognitive therapy alone addresses social anxiety for improved short and long term outcomes in participants.

The study randomly divided 102 participants with social anxiety disorders or combined social anxiety and avoidant personality disorders into 4 groups: a placebo group, a combined paroxetine and cognitive therapy group, an only paroxetine group, and an only cognitive therapy group. Participants took either paroxetine or the placebo for 26 weeks, and participants in cognitive therapy completed 12 sessions lasting 60 minutes. All participants were assessed pretreatment, at 12 after treatment, and in a 12 month follow up.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
Study: Health Anxiety Could Increase Ischemic Heart Risk By 70%
Antianxiety and Hypnotic Drugs Up Mortality Risk
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Their findings showed that cognitive therapy had a recovery rate of 68%, and participants retained the benefits of cognitive therapy 12 month after treatment. Participants in combined treatment with paroxetine and cognitive therapy had a recovery rate of 40%, but researchers noticed the drug reduced the benefits of therapy for participants. Alone, paroxetine had a recovery rate of 24% and performed better than the placebo, which had a recovery rate of 4%.

According to the researchers, cognitive therapy should be the first form of treatment used in patients with social anxiety disorders, or who have social anxiety and avoidant personality disorders. Their findings indicated that cognitive therapy alone had better recovery rates, and confirmed with other studies that pharmaceuticals did detract from the benefits of cognitive therapy in patients who combined the 2 forms of treatment.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Nordahl HM, Vogel PA, Morken G, Stiles TC, Sandvik P, Wells A. Paroxetine, cognitive therapy, or their combination in the treatment of social disorder with and without avoidant personality disorder: a randomized clinical trail [published online November 6, 2016]. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. doi:10.1159/000447013.