Generalised Anxiety Disorder

TREATMENT FOR GAD

GAD is now treated with drug assisted therapy and psychological therapies, simultaneously or alone. Treatment ought to commence with reassurance that the physical complaints are not symptomatic of a medical illness. Over the last decade, the pharmacological management of GAD has moved from treatment with the benzodiazepines – Valium and Serepax to the use of selective serotonin re - uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and the serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) – Venlafaxine. (See Table 3) However, the use of the benzodiazepines still has a place in the treatment of GAD.

The worry in GAD predicts that an adverse event will occur. Cognitive therapy, the most widely used psychological therapy in GAD, seeks to restrict the worry, modify the underlying thoughts and beliefs by challenging the probability that the event will occur. Behaviour therapy is directed at minimising body tension using modes of relaxation therapy.

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