Treatment of negative schizophrenic symptoms with alprazolam: a preliminary open-label study

Eight schizophrenic patients received alprazolam in an open-label protocol. A partial reversal of negative symptoms was noted in six of the eight patients. Also, all eight experienced a decrease in anxiety. Alprazolam in doses of 5 to 7 mg/day yielded steady state plasma levels of 6 to 64 ng/ml. As the drug was well tolerated at these doses and as negative symptoms of schizophrenia are difficult to treat, a double-blind, controlled trial of alprazolam is underway to test more rigorously these preliminary results.