The long-term management of generalized anxiety disorder: issues and dilemmas.

Accumulating evidence suggests that a large proportion of patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder suffer from a chronic or recurrent condition that is associated with a moderate amount of disability and impairment in quality of life. Acute drug therapy is well studied and appears to be highly effective in providing symptom relief, but relapse/recurrence is high. Little research has been reported that identifies predictors of recurrence or studies the clinical parameters of maintenance drug therapy, including benefit-risk assessments or optimal doses or durations of treatment.