2,021
Views
57
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Meta-Analysis

Comparing the efficacy of benzodiazepines and serotonergic anti-depressants for adults with generalized anxiety disorder: a meta-analytic review

, & ORCID Icon
Pages 883-894 | Received 05 Mar 2018, Accepted 01 May 2018, Published online: 28 May 2018

Keep up to date with the latest research on this topic with citation updates for this article.

Read on this site (2)

Borwin Bandelow, Christer Allgulander, David S. Baldwin, Daniel Lucas da Conceição Costa, Damiaan Denys, Nesrin Dilbaz, Katharina Domschke, Elias Eriksson, Naomi A. Fineberg, Josef Hättenschwiler, Eric Hollander, Hisanobu Kaiya, Tatiana Karavaeva, Siegfried Kasper, Martin Katzman, Yong-Ku Kim, Takeshi Inoue, Leslie Lim, Vasilios Masdrakis, José M. Menchón, Euripedes C. Miguel, Hans-Jürgen Möller, Antonio E. Nardi, Stefano Pallanti, Giampaolo Perna, Dan Rujescu, Vladan Starcevic, Dan J. Stein, Shih-Jen Tsai, Michael Van Ameringen, Anna Vasileva, Zhen Wang & Joseph Zohar. (2023) World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and posttraumatic stress disorders – Version 3. Part I: Anxiety disorders. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry 24:2, pages 79-117.
Read now
Jeffrey R. Strawn, Laura Geracioti, Neil Rajdev, Kelly Clemenza & Amir Levine. (2018) Pharmacotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder in adult and pediatric patients: an evidence-based treatment review. Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy 19:10, pages 1057-1070.
Read now

Articles from other publishers (55)

Luís Madeira, Guilherme Queiroz & Rui Henriques. (2023) Prepandemic psychotropic drug status in Portugal: a nationwide pharmacoepidemiological profile. Scientific Reports 13:1.
Crossref
Mykyta Hryhoriev. (2023) Retrospective analysis of the use of benzodiazepines in anxiety disorders. Ukrainian Scientific Medical Youth Journal 136:1, pages 125-130.
Crossref
Raffaella Zanardi, Matteo Carminati, Valentina Fazio, Melania Maccario, Greta Verri & Cristina Colombo. (2023) Add-On Treatment with Passiflora incarnata L., herba, during Benzodiazepine Tapering in Patients with Depression and Anxiety: A Real-World Study. Pharmaceuticals 16:3, pages 426.
Crossref
Leydianne Leite de Siqueira Patriota, Bárbara Raíssa Ferreira de Lima, Amanda de Oliveira Marinho, Jainaldo Alves da Costa, Luana Cassandra Breitenbach Barroso Coelho, Patrícia Maria Guedes Paiva, Michelle Melgarejo da Rosa & Thiago Henrique Napoleão. (2023) The anxiolytic-like activity of water-soluble Moringa oleifera Lam. lectin is mediated via serotoninergic, noradrenergic, and dopaminergic neurotransmission. Brain Disorders 9, pages 100066.
Crossref
Denong Liu, Qingyu Zhang, Zhijia Zhao, Mengjia Chen, Yanbin Hou, Guanjun Wang, Haowei Shen, Huaqiang Zhu, Yunxin Ji, Liemin Ruan & Zhongze Lou. (2023) Benzodiazepine-Receptor Agonist Utilization in Outpatients with Anxiety Disorder: A Retrospective Study Based on Electronic Healthcare Data from a Large General Tertiary Hospital. Healthcare 11:4, pages 554.
Crossref
Markus Dold, Lucie Bartova, Hans-Peter Volz, Erich Seifritz, Hans-Jürgen Möller, Sandra Schläfke & Siegfried Kasper. (2023) Efficacy of Silexan in patients with anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience.
Crossref
Ung Gu Kang, Se Hyun Kim, Nam Young Lee, Kyu Young Lee, Yong Sik Kim & In Won Chung. (2023) Benzodiazepines: Pharmacology Up-to-Date and Practical Issues. Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association 62:1, pages 1.
Crossref
H.R. Winston & A.M. Nussbaum. 2023. Encyclopedia of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms. Encyclopedia of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms 370 382 .
Kristin L. Szuhany & Naomi M. Simon. (2022) Anxiety Disorders. JAMA 328:24, pages 2431.
Crossref
T. MacDonald, A.T. Gallo, G. Basso-Hulse & G.K. Hulse. (2022) Outcomes of patients treated with low-dose flumazenil for benzodiazepine detoxification: A description of 26 participants. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 237, pages 109517.
Crossref
David S. Baldwin. (2021) Clinical management of withdrawal from benzodiazepine anxiolytic and hypnotic medications. Addiction 117:5, pages 1472-1482.
Crossref
Kamilla Bergsnev & Ana Luisa Sánchez Laws. (2022) Personalizing Virtual Reality for the Research and Treatment of Fear-Related Disorders: A Mini Review. Frontiers in Virtual Reality 3.
Crossref
Falk Leichsenring, Christiane Steinert, Sven Rabung & John P.A. Ioannidis. (2022) The efficacy of psychotherapies and pharmacotherapies for mental disorders in adults: an umbrella review and meta‐analytic evaluation of recent meta‐analyses. World Psychiatry 21:1, pages 133-145.
Crossref
Vladan Starcevic. (2022) Representation of Benzodiazepines in Treatment Guidelines: The Paradox of Undesirable Objectivity. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 91:5, pages 295-299.
Crossref
Steven L. Dubovsky & Dori Marshall. (2022) Benzodiazepines Remain Important Therapeutic Options in Psychiatric Practice. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 91:5, pages 307-334.
Crossref
Margaux M. Kenwood, Ned H. Kalin & Helen Barbas. (2021) The prefrontal cortex, pathological anxiety, and anxiety disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology 47:1, pages 260-275.
Crossref
Jessica Qian, Nzaar Al-Chalabi, Yin Wang, Amarachukwu Igblom, Ali Bani Fatemi & Vincenzo De Luca. 2022. Psychiatric Genomics. Psychiatric Genomics 269 287 .
Boadie Waid Dunlop & Carolina Medeiros Da Frota Ribeiro. 2022. NeuroPsychopharmacotherapy. NeuroPsychopharmacotherapy 305 359 .
Antonio Preti, Roberto Demontis, Giulia Cossu, Goce Kalcev, Federico Cabras, Maria Francesca Moro, Ferdinando Romano, Matteo Balestrieri, Filippo Caraci, Liliana Dell’Osso, Guido Di Sciascio, Filippo Drago, Maria Carolina Hardoy, Rita Roncone, Carlo Faravelli, Cesar Ivan Aviles Gonzalez, Matthias Angermayer & Mauro Giovanni Carta. (2021) The lifetime prevalence and impact of generalized anxiety disorders in an epidemiologic Italian National Survey carried out by clinicians by means of semi-structured interviews. BMC Psychiatry 21:1.
Crossref
Rahul Shah, Mukaila A Raji, Jordan Westra & Yong-Fang Kuo. (2021) Association of co-prescribing of opioid and benzodiazepine substitutes with incident falls and fractures among older adults: a cohort study. BMJ Open 11:12, pages e052057.
Crossref
Tae Woo Park, Jennifer Sikov, Vanessa dellaBitta, Richard Saitz, Alexander Y. Walley & Mari-Lynn Drainoni. (2021) “It could potentially be dangerous... but nothing else has seemed to help me.”: Patient and clinician perspectives on benzodiazepine use in opioid agonist treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 131, pages 108455.
Crossref
Mathilde Bonnay, Thomas Soeiro, Rachel Megard, Joelle Micallef, Benjamin Rolland & Mathieu Chappuy. (2021) Usages et bon usage des benzodiazépines anxiolytiques et hypnotiques. Annales Médico-psychologiques, revue psychiatrique 179:8, pages 748-756.
Crossref
Peter Maisel, Erika Baum & Norbert Donner-Banzhoff. (2021) Fatigue as the Chief Complaint. Deutsches Ärzteblatt international.
Crossref
Corey Fee, Thomas D Prevot, Keith Misquitta, Daniel E Knutson, Guanguan Li, Prithu Mondal, James M Cook, Mounira Banasr & Etienne Sibille. (2021) Behavioral Deficits Induced by Somatostatin-Positive GABA Neuron Silencing Are Rescued by Alpha 5 GABA-A Receptor Potentiation. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology 24:6, pages 505-518.
Crossref
Amir Garakani, James W. Murrough, Rafael C. Freire, Robyn P. Thom, Kaitlyn Larkin, Frank D. Buono & Dan V. Iosifescu. (2021) Pharmacotherapy of Anxiety Disorders: Current and Emerging Treatment Options. FOCUS 19:2, pages 222-242.
Crossref
Nancy A. Pachana & Gerard J. Byrne. 2021. Anxiety in Older People. Anxiety in Older People 226 240 .
Brenda WJH Penninx, Daniel S Pine, Emily A Holmes & Andreas Reif. (2021) Anxiety disorders. The Lancet 397:10277, pages 914-927.
Crossref
Dan J. Stein, Jon-Paul Khoo, Françoise Picarel-Blanchot, Valérie Olivier & Michael Van Ameringen. (2021) Efficacy of Agomelatine 25–50 mg for the Treatment of Anxious Symptoms and Functional Impairment in Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Three Placebo-Controlled Studies. Advances in Therapy 38:3, pages 1567-1583.
Crossref
Elisabet Navarro-Tapia, Laura Almeida-Toledano, Giorgia Sebastiani, Mariona Serra-Delgado, Óscar García-Algar & Vicente Andreu-Fernández. (2021) Effects of Microbiota Imbalance in Anxiety and Eating Disorders: Probiotics as Novel Therapeutic Approaches. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22:5, pages 2351.
Crossref
Fiammetta Cosci & Guy Chouinard. (2021) Persistent Postwithdrawal Syndrome after Benzodiazepine Discontinuation. A Reply to Huff. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 90:3, pages 209-210.
Crossref
Thomas Prévot & Etienne Sibille. (2020) Altered GABA-mediated information processing and cognitive dysfunctions in depression and other brain disorders. Molecular Psychiatry 26:1, pages 151-167.
Crossref
Naomi M. Simon, Stefan G. Hofmann, David Rosenfield, Susanne S. Hoeppner, Elizabeth A. Hoge, Eric Bui & Sat Bir S. Khalsa. (2021) Efficacy of Yoga vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs Stress Education for the Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. JAMA Psychiatry 78:1, pages 13.
Crossref
Amir Garakani, James W. Murrough, Rafael C. Freire, Robyn P. Thom, Kaitlyn Larkin, Frank D. Buono & Dan V. Iosifescu. (2020) Pharmacotherapy of Anxiety Disorders: Current and Emerging Treatment Options. Frontiers in Psychiatry 11.
Crossref
Nashwa M. Saleh, Mohamed S.A. El-Gaby, Khaled El‐Adl & Nour E.A. Abd El-Sattar. (2020) Design, green synthesis, molecular docking and anticancer evaluations of diazepam bearing sulfonamide moieties as VEGFR-2 inhibitors. Bioorganic Chemistry 104, pages 104350.
Crossref
Vivian Binder Neis, Axel Fogaça Rosado, Gislaine Olescowicz, Morgana Moretti, Priscila Batista Rosa, Nicole Platt & Ana Lúcia S. Rodrigues. (2020) The involvement of GABAergic system in the antidepressant-like effect of agmatine. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology 393:10, pages 1931-1939.
Crossref
Heidi Taipale, Hanna Särkilä, Antti Tanskanen, Terhi Kurko, Tero Taiminen, Jari Tiihonen, Reijo Sund, Annamari Tuulio-Henriksson, Leena Saastamoinen & Jarmo Hietala. (2020) Incidence of and Characteristics Associated With Long-term Benzodiazepine Use in Finland. JAMA Network Open 3:10, pages e2019029.
Crossref
Zhenwei Yu, Jianying Zhang, Ying Zheng & Lingyan Yu. (2020) Trends in Antidepressant Use and Expenditure in Six Major Cities in China From 2013 to 2018. Frontiers in Psychiatry 11.
Crossref
Lorelei Tucker, Yong Li & Quanguang Zhang. (2020) Treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Timely Update on Therapeutic Strategies. Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy Research 7, pages 107-116.
Crossref
Yasin I. Tayem, Haitham A. Jahrami, Mazen K. Ali & Suhaib W. Hattab. (2020) Ambulatory Pharmacotherapy of Five Psychiatric Disorders in Bahrain: a Descriptive Study. Psychiatric Quarterly 91:2, pages 289-298.
Crossref
Thomaz Lüscher Dias, Viviane Schuch, Patrícia Cristina Baleeiro Beltrão-Braga, Daniel Martins-de-Souza, Helena Paula Brentani, Glória Regina Franco & Helder Imoto Nakaya. (2020) Drug repositioning for psychiatric and neurological disorders through a network medicine approach. Translational Psychiatry 10:1.
Crossref
Islam H. El Azab & Nadia A.A. Elkanzi. (2020) An Efficient Synthetic Approach Towards Benzo[b]pyrano[2,3-e][1,4]diazepines, and Their Cytotoxic Activity. Molecules 25:9, pages 2051.
Crossref
David C. Currow & Meera R. Agar. (2020) Benzodiazepine Prescribing in People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Clinical Considerations. Drugs & Aging 37:4, pages 263-270.
Crossref
ShrutakirthiD Shenoi, Savitha Soman, Ravindra Munoli & Smitha Prabhu. (2020) Update on pharmacotherapy in psychodermatological disorders. Indian Dermatology Online Journal 11:3, pages 307.
Crossref
Yu.P. Sivolap. (2020) Systematics and treatment of anxiety disorders. Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii im. S.S. Korsakova 120:7, pages 121.
Crossref
E.E. Vasenina & O.S. Levin. (2020) Speech disorders and anxiety: interaction mechanisms and therapy potential. Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii im. S.S. Korsakova 120:4, pages 136.
Crossref
Richard Balon & Vladan Starcevic. 2020. Anxiety Disorders. Anxiety Disorders 367 388 .
Boadie Waid Dunlop & Carolina Medeiros Da Frota Ribeiro. 2019. NeuroPsychopharmacotherapy. NeuroPsychopharmacotherapy 1 56 .
Alexandru TibaAlexandru Tiba. 2020. Embodied Hot Cognitive Vulnerability to Emotional Disorders​. Embodied Hot Cognitive Vulnerability to Emotional Disorders​ 1 14 .
Simone B. Sartori & Nicolas Singewald. (2019) Novel pharmacological targets in drug development for the treatment of anxiety and anxiety-related disorders. Pharmacology & Therapeutics 204, pages 107402.
Crossref
Hairong He, Yutao Xiang, Fengjie Gao, Ling Bai, Fan Gao, Yajuan Fan, Jun Lyu & Xiancang Ma. (2019) Comparative efficacy and acceptability of first-line drugs for the acute treatment of generalized anxiety disorder in adults: A network meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatric Research 118, pages 21-30.
Crossref
Falk Leichsenring, Christiane Steinert & John P.A. Ioannidis. (2019) Toward a paradigm shift in treatment and research of mental disorders. Psychological Medicine 49:13, pages 2111-2117.
Crossref
Valeria Rytova, Despina E. Ganella, David Hawkes, Ross A. D. Bathgate, Sherie Ma & Andrew L. Gundlach. (2019) Chronic activation of the relaxin-3 receptor on GABA neurons in rat ventral hippocampus promotes anxiety and social avoidance. Hippocampus 29:10, pages 905-920.
Crossref
Thomas D. Prevot, Guanguan Li, Aleksandra Vidojevic, Keith A. Misquitta, Corey Fee, Anja Santrac, Daniel E. Knutson, Michael Rajesh Stephen, Revathi Kodali, Nicolas M. Zahn, Leggy A. Arnold, Petra Scholze, Janet L. Fisher, Bojan D. Marković, Mounira Banasr, James M. Cook, Miroslav Savic & Etienne Sibille. (2019) Novel Benzodiazepine-Like Ligands with Various Anxiolytic, Antidepressant, or Pro-Cognitive Profiles. Complex Psychiatry 5:2, pages 84-97.
Crossref
Margarita Sáenz-Herrero, Álvar Peña-Rotella, Ane Eizaguirre-Garcia & Karim Haidar. 2019. Psychopathology in Women. Psychopathology in Women 639 669 .
Jeffrey M. Witkin, Tanya L. Wallace & William J. Martin. 2019. The Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ Peptide Receptor. The Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ Peptide Receptor 399 415 .

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.