Treatment, Discontinuation, and Psychomotor Effects of Diazepam in Women with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Twenty-one women with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) participated in a 6-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to assess the treatment and abrupt withdrawal effects of diazepam on psychic and somatic symptoms of anxiety. The results confirmed those of previous studies reporting that (1) clinical doses of diazepam are effective in attenuating the symptoms of generalized anxiety to a greater extent than placebo during the first 3 weeks of treatment; (2) somatic symptoms are more responsive to diazepam treatment than psychic symptoms; and (3) patients taking diazepam exhibit increased anxiety upon abrupt withdrawal of medication. This finding, combined with the fact that diazepam discontinuation did not produce withdrawal effects in non-anxious volunteers, suggests that diazepam discontinuation after 6 weeks results in rebound anxiety rather than a physical withdrawal syndrome. Diazepam did not improve psychomotor performance in GAD patients. Psychomotor impairment after 6 weeks of diazepam was similar to that seen in nonanxious volunteers.