Neurotic illness and its response to anxiolytic and antidepressant treatment

Two hundred and forty neurotic out-patients were allocated to no diagnostic category but were rated in terms of observer and self ratings of both depression and anxiety at weekly intervals during a 4-week trial of amitriptyline, diazepam, amitriptyline and diazepam, and placebo. The sample could not be divided into anxious and depressed groups on the basis of the clinical picture. The outcome tended to be good irrespective of medication but the significant drug effects found were due to amitriptyline and concerned measures of anxiety as well as depression. It is concluded that a distinction between anxiety and depression in neurotic out-patients is of no practical value with regard to drug treatment.