A controlled trial of diazepam withdrawal in chronically anxious outpatients

Twenty-four middle-aged male chronically anxious outpatients who were taking diazepam at a mean dose of 17 mg/day for a mean duration of 5 years were assigned to maintenance (M), gradual withdrawal (GW) or abrupt withdrawal (AW) and followed weekly. No differences were seen in two self-report anxiety measures or in withdrawal symptoms between groups. Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale scores were slightly elevated (F = 2.34, P less than 0.05) in the AW patients at a mean duration of 4 weeks off diazepam. Thus, withdrawal from chronic diazepam (10-30 mg/day) use produced no prominent withdrawal syndrome, but the suggestion of gradual anxiety recurrence indicates the need fro longer-term follow-up studies to adequately assess maintenance efficacy.