Therapy: Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy with exposure
Study summary
Anxiety disorders, including agoraphobia, are prevalent in the German population, leading affected individuals to avoid specific places like crowds or public transport. Although cognitive-behavioral therapy with exposure is an effective treatment, many patients resort to medication rather than therapy. Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) shows promise in easing exposure treatment with customizable scenarios. Interoception (body symptom perception) and the endocannabinoid system are explored as factors in maintaining agoraphobia. Studies investigate how therapies like exposure (both in vivo and in VR) impact these factors and treatment outcomes. Interoception, especially in panic disorder patients, plays a crucial role, with accurate heartbeat perception linked to maintaining anxiety. The endocannabinoid system, affecting various functions, is studied for its role in therapy outcomes and its modulation of the body's stress response. The study aims to understand how these systems interact in agoraphobic patients and how therapy affects their functionality.
Eligibility
Sex
ALL
Min age
18 Years
Max age
75 Years
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Inclusion Criteria:
* Experimental group: Diagnosis of agoraphobia with or without panic disorder
* Clinical control group: diagnosis of social phobia
* Control group: healthy individuals without acute or chronic mental illness
* A depressive disorder may be present as a comorbid diagnosis in the experimental group and the clinical control group
Exclusion Criteria:
* Other mental illnesses: Substance dependence, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dementia, eating disorders, PTSD, major depressive episode, personality disorder
* Somatic diseases: Cancer, cardiovascular diseases, epilepsy, autoimmune diseases, metabolic or endocrine diseases
* Taking psychotropic medication (except antidepressants) or medication that affects the cardiovascular system (e.g. beta-blockers), medication containing cortisone, use of creams with corticosteroids
* Pregnancy, breastfeeding
* Ongoing psychotherapy
Primary outcome measure(s)
Extent of Interoceptive Attention — through study completion, an average of 2 years Interoceptive attention assessed via a questionnaires (interoceptive attention/ IA). Higher scores reflect a higher interoceptive attention.
Extent of Interoceptive Accuracy — through study completion, an average of 2 years Interoceptive accuracy assessed via a questionnaire (interoception accuracy scale/IAS). Higher scores reflect a more accurate/sensitive interoception.
Extent of Objective Interoceptive Sensitivity — through study completion, an average of 2 years Interoceptive sensitivity assessed via heart rate measures.
Concentration of Bioparameters under rest and under acute stress — through study completion, an average of 2 years Blood measures of cortisol, immune parameters (IL-6, IL-10), endocannabinoids will be assessed under rest and under acute stress during a Trier Social Stress Test. Unit of measure for all biomarkers is pg/ml.
Trial sites (1)
Facility
City
Region
Status
University Medical Center
Mainz
Germany
Recruiting
More Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz trials in Germany
This page summarises publicly available registry data for informational purposes — not medical advice. Eligibility is determined by each study team; patients should discuss participation with their clinician.
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