Case Study of a 33-Year-Old Patient with a Panic Disorder, an Emetophobia (ICD-10 F 41.0/F 40.2) and a Moderate Depression on the Basis of a Recurrent Depressive Disorder (ICD-10 F 33.1) from Psychodynamic Point of View

I would like to present a case of a childless 33-year-old married administrative assistant who has been suffering from panic attacks since the age of 17 and at times becomes depressed, with panic disorder and emetophobia being at the forefront of the clinical picture. I treated the patient according to the concept of panic-focussed psychodynamic psychotherapy (PFPP) in a modified form. This means that the external transference was the subject of the therapy and not the transference, as recommended in PFPP. A total of 100 sessions took place. The aim of the therapy was not only to reduce the patient’s symptoms but also to modify the patient’s attitudes that contribute to their psychological destabilisation. In order for the reader to be able to follow me more easily, I will briefly explain the PFPP with the help of Professor Milrod in a theoretical digression (see above). The depth psychology-based therapy lasted for two and a half years. The patient came to therapy once a week. Mrs. X approached me on the recommendation of a patient who had completed her therapy with me some time before. She identified with the good results of her friend’s therapy, which gave her encouragement and hope that her fervent wish to discontinue paroxetine would come true. Up until the time she presented to me, she had been taking the drug consistently every day for 11 years.