CBT for Panic Disorder

Overview

Panic disorder involves recurrent panic attacks and worry about future attacks, often leading to avoidance. Misinterpreting benign bodily sensations as dangerous (e.g., “I’m going to faint”) fuels the cycle.

Why CBT helps

• Interoceptive exposure: safely evokes bodily sensations (e.g., spinning, running in place) to disconfirm catastrophic beliefs.
• Cognitive reappraisal: updating interpretations of sensations (e.g., “fast heartbeat ≠ danger”).
• Behavioral experiments: approaching avoided cues to gather corrective evidence.

Journaling prompts

1. Which sensations trigger alarm? What danger do I predict, and what happened when I tested it?
2. During exposure, my peak anxiety was __/100 and dropped to __/100 in __ minutes.
3. What new explanation fits the facts better than my catastrophic one?

Pair with brief thought records in How to Journal.

When to seek care

If panic is frequent or severely limiting, clinician‑guided exposure can increase safety and effectiveness.