Rational treatment of panic disorder with antidepressants.

Rational treatment of panic disorders with antidepressants rests on decisions of drug choice, dosage, and duration of treatment. In this paper, we selectively review the author's research with the standard antidepressant, imipramine, in the treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia as it relates to practical issues. We develop general guidelines for treatment, suggest researchable ways of increasing the net effectiveness of treatment with this class of drugs, and discuss limited generalizations to the extant literature on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in panic disorders.