Course of social functioning after remission from panic disorder

While symptom status and social functioning have been observed to be correlated in many cross-sectional studies, little is known about the time course of change in functioning after a change in diagnostic status. Using data from a large longitudinal study of anxiety disorders, we present analyses of the time course of seven domains of social functioning up to 18 months before and after remission from panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. The effect of remission from panic disorder varies by domain. Four domains show a change in outcome, usually positive, after remission. The presence of major depressive disorder (MDD) affects the course of functioning for two domains. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) was observed to have effects on five of seven domains. For some domains there is improvement at approximately the same time as change in diagnostic status, although progressive change was seen in others. The amount of improvement was modest on average, indicating that other factors beyond panic symptoms may limit post-remission improvement in social functioning.