[Actual therapeutic options in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorders]

Among a variety of drugs used in the treatment of anxiety disorders, benzodiazepines and antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are at present the most established and prescribed. In fact, recent guidelines recommend the antidepressants SSRI and SNRI as well as pregabaline, a newly developed drug, as the 1st choice treatment in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, antidepressants have several disadvantages (latency of onset of action, adverse effects and drug interactions) that should not be neglected. Pregabaline is a drug with a new mechanism of action. Clinical studies up to now indicate a rather rapid and efficient anxiolytic effect comparable to that of benzodiazepines, with no risk of abuse. Pregabaline has been recently introduced in Switzerland for the treatment of GAD.