[Behavior therapy of cardiac phobia--a clinical report of experiences in the training of cognitive anxiety management].

We report about a psychotherapeutic approach of intervention with patients suffering of severe cardiac neurosis. The patients treated had panic attacks almost every night. The patients learned cognitive strategies in combination with a self-controlled stimulus exposition. In addition an analysis of the individual learning history was made. We found an anxious, dominant mother in 8 of 10 cases. Two patients had a foster-mother. Six married patients had a tendency of separation and a fear of separation as well. In these cases we recommended a marital therapy or an individual therapy after our hospital treatment. All treated patients lost the panic attacks; agoraphobic tendencies were reduced as well--no longer impairing their every day life. In five cases all clinical symptoms had disappeared completely. In all cases we found the improvements persisting 6 months after treatment.