Comments on the APA Panic Disorder Guideline

To the Editor: On behalf of the American Psychoanalytic Association and its members, we are registering our association’s grave concerns about the “Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Panic Disorder.” We consider this document to be seriously flawed in its failure to recognize psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis as effective and primary forms of treatment for severe anxiety disorders. It is the position of our association that these treatments should be fully included in any adequate description of treatment options for any patient with anxiety or panic symptoms. Since the American Psychoanalytic Association is listed among the “organizations that submitted comments,” we expect that our serious reservations about these particular guidelines will be published in a subsequent issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry.