Symptoms and treatment responses of generalized anxiety disorder patients with high versus low levels of cardiovascular complaints.

Clinical observations suggest that patients with generalized anxiety disorder differ in somatic symptoms. The authors compared 28 patients with generalized anxiety disorder who had high levels of cardiovascular complaints with 32 patients with generalized anxiety disorder who had low levels of cardiovascular complaints on rating instruments, physiological measures, and use of anxiolytic medication. The two groups differed on somatic but not psychic symptoms on rating instruments. Patients with high levels of cardiovascular symptoms had higher levels of cardiac lability and required higher doses of alprazolam. These findings suggest that anxious patients with comparable levels of psychic anxiety may differ in levels of physical symptoms.