Ziya Yazıcı
Exercise Specialist & Manual Therapist, Turkey
Research Interests:
Objective:
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a body-oriented, integrative intervention program targeting autonomic nervous system regulation, respiratory biomechanics, and myofascial release on panic disorder severity, agoraphobia levels, and panic symptoms in individuals diagnosed with panic disorder.
Methods:
The study was conducted with a total of 51 participants aged 18 years and older who had been diagnosed with panic disorder. The Panic Disorder Severity Scale, Panic and Agoraphobia Scale, and Panic Disorder Symptom Checklist were administered before and after the intervention. The intervention program followed a five-stage integrative structure including functional assessment, manual therapy (myofascial release), postural alignment, breathing-based interventions, and exercise–stretching applications. Descriptive statistics and paired-samples t-tests were used for data analysis.
Results:
The analyses revealed a statistically significant reduction in panic disorder severity and agoraphobia levels following the intervention (p < .001). Comparisons between pre-test and post-test scores demonstrated marked decreases in both panic severity and agoraphobia total scores in favor of post-intervention measurements.
Conclusion:
The findings support the view that panic disorder is maintained not only through cognitive processes but also through bodily, biomechanical, and neurophysiological mechanisms. Body-oriented integrative interventions appear to offer an effective and feasible approach in the treatment of panic disorder and agoraphobia.
Keywords:
Panic disorder, agoraphobia, interoception, myofascial release, respiratory biomechanics, autonomic nervous system
