According to a doctoral thesis soon to be presented by Jan Bergström at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) via the Internet is just as effective in treating panic disorder as traditional group-based CBT. It is also apparently efficacious for the treatment of mild and moderate depression. Access to conventional CBT is limited in Sweden, so an internet-based CBT was developed in which the patient undergoes an Internet-based self-help program and has contact with a therapist by email. In a randomized clinical trial of 104 patients with panic disorder, both treatments worked very well and there was no significant difference between them, either immediately after treatment or at a six-month follow-up. Internet treatment was more cost-effective than group treatment. Analysis of the results for the treatment of depression show that Internet-based CBT is most effective if it is administered as early as possible. Patients with a higher severity of depression and/or a history of more frequent depressive episodes benefited less well from the Internet treatment.
More from Karolinska Institutet: Panic disorder and depression can be treated over the Internet…
Thesis link: Internet-based Treatment for Depression and Panic disorder : From development to deployment…