Alprazolam in the treatment of generalized anxiety and panic disorders: a double-blind placebo-controlled study.

In a double-blind controlled study lasting 8 weeks, 50 anxious psychoneurotic outpatients with a primary diagnosis of generalized anxiety or panic disorder were randomly assigned to alprazolam (n=30), a new benzodiazepine, or placebo (n=20), after a washout period of 1 week. Alprazolam at dosages between 0.25 and 3 mg/day was found to be significantly better than placebo in the treatment of either disorder. The finding that alprazolam was effective in the treatment of panic disorder is of interest as this diagnostic category is usually treated with tricyclic antidepressants or MAO inhibitors.