Core symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder unimproved by alprazolam treatment.

The authors report a random-assignment, double-blind crossover trial comparing alprazolam and placebo in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Ten patients fulfilling DSM-III criteria for PTSD completed 5 weeks of treatment on each agent. Improvement in anxiety symptoms was significantly greater during alprazolam treatment but modest in extent. Symptoms specific to PTSD were not significantly altered. The impact of nonspecific symptomatic effects on the outcome of drug trials in PTSD is considered.