Recent developments in the research on generalized anxiety disorder

Purpose of review Generalized anxiety disorder is associated with a significant economic burden owing to decreased work productivity and increased use of health care services, particularly primary health care. The appropriate use of psychological treatments, especially cognitive behaviour therapy and antidepressants, may improve both anxiety and depression symptoms and may also play a role in preventing comorbid major depression in generalized anxiety disorder. Recent findings Recent research is dominated by works on antidepressants and cognitive behaviour therapy, but alternative pharmacological treatments have recently been studied, especially phytotherapy with limited outcomes and hydroxyzine with more convincing results. A new selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, citalopram, appears to be a possible candidate for treating generalized anxiety disorder after an open-labels study. However, a controlled study is warranted. Group cognitive behaviour therapy for generalized anxiety disorder is a viable alternative to individual therapy. The longest follow-up (8-14 years) of cognitive behaviour therapy shows that 50% of the patients are significantly improved. Summary New research on drugs, applied relaxation and cognitive therapy suggest that there is room for improving the treatment methods to increase the rate of responders, which is about 50-60% in most studies.