Trends in recommendations for the pharmacotherapy of anxiety disorders by an international expert panel, 1992-1997

A follow-up survey in 1997 to a 1992 study of the recommendations of an int ernational expert panel on the use of benzodiazepines (BZDs) and other psyc hotherapeutic medications in the treatment of anxiety disorders suggests th at the BZDs remain a mainstay of pharmacotherapy for most of these conditio ns. BZDs were mentioned more often than any other class of drugs as preferr ed first-line therapy for anxiety disorders, except obsessive compulsive di sorder. The introduction of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SS RIs) did not significantly affect the experts' recommendations for the use of BZDs as first-line pharmacotherapy. Rather, the SSRIs displaced the tric yclic antidepressants. Some implications of the continuing recommendations for the use of BZDs in anxiety disorders are discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.