Mobile Biofeedback Therapy for the Treatment of Panic Attacks: A Pilot Feasibility Study

摘要

Panic attacks are an impairing mental health problem that affects 11% of adults every year. Those who suffer from panic attacks often do not seek psychological treatment, citing the inability to receive care during their attacks as a contributing factor. Herein, we introduce a mobile health (mHealth) biofeedback system that enables treatment of panic attacks wherever and whenever they occur and describe the results of an initial feasibility study. We find that only three of nine chronic panic attack sufferers experienced a panic attack during the study, potentially suggesting a preventative placebo effect common to similar pharmacological interventions. Of the four panic attacks observed, subjects noted that the act of using their phone to record their physiology during the attack helped to stop the attack. While preliminary, these results point toward the need for future development of this mHealth system and a future clinical study to assess its efficacy for preventing panic attacks.