Can psychopharmacological treatment change personality traits in patients with panic disorder?
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects that a particular psychopharmacological treatment has on personality patterns in patients with panic disorder.


METHODS
Forty-seven patients with panic disorder and 40 controls were included in the study. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory were used to assess Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, diagnoses and personality traits, respectively. Patients were treated with sertraline for 16 weeks.


RESULTS
There was a significant decrease in the score on 8 of the 10 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scales. In addition, neurotic triad and psychasthenia personality scores were higher among panic disorder patients, even during the posttreatment asymptomatic phase, than among controls.


CONCLUSIONS
In the asymptomatic phase of the disease, panic disorder patients present a particular neurotic/anxious personality pattern. This pattern, although altered in the presence of acute symptoms, could be a focus of research.
Kipper
Letícia
L
Postgraduate Program in Medical Sciences: Psychiatry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Wachleski
Cláudia
C
Salum
Giovanni Abrahão
GA
Heldt
Elizeth
E
Blaya
Carolina
C
Manfro
Gisele Gus
GG
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality / Q000187:drug effects*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011600:Psychopharmacology; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020280:Sertraline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D020280:Sertraline