Discussion on Pharmacotherapy of Social Anxiety Disorder

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Dr. Westenberg: I want to comment on your data and the cognitive effects of SSRIs. We did a study with fluvoxamine in panic disorder where we challenged with CCK4 before and after treatment and found that cognitions about somatic symptoms diminished rather than the physical symptoms themselves.1 The emphasis was on cognitions about people’s situations, about somatic symptoms that disappeared or diminished on treatment, when these panic attacks were elicited by a pharmacologic compound, suggesting that SSRIs do have an effect on negative cognitions, which is also apparent in social phobia.