Cognitive behavior therapy  appears to be more effective than other evidence -based psychological techniques , and its effects appear to be more enduring than those of pharmacotherapy .
There is some evidence , albeit limited to certain drug classes , that the combination of  medication and cognitive behavior therapy may be more effective than either strategy used alone .
This article proposes a number of recommendations for the treatment of  generalized social phobia  , based on a systematic literature review and meta- analysis .
For medications , selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and dual serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are first-line choices based on their efficacy and tolerability profiles .
There are other medication classes with demonstrated efficacy in social phobia ( benzodiazepines , antipsychotics , alpha-2-delta lig and s ) , but due to limited published clinical trial data and the potential for dependence and withdrawal issues with benzodiazepines , it is unclear how best to incorporate these drugs into treatment regimens .
Placebo-controlled trial of moclobemide in social phobia.
BACKGROUND Moclobemide , a reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase A , previously has been reported to have efficacy in the treatment of social phobia . METHOD Seventy-seven non-responders to one week of single-blind placebo  were r and omly assigned to moclobemide or placebo for eight weeks of double-blind treatment . Outcome was assessed by independent evaluator , treating psychiatrist and self-ratings . After eight weeks , patients who were at least minimally improved continued treatment for a further eight weeks . RESULTS Intention-to-treat sample response rates at week 8 were 7/40 ( 17.5 % ) for the moclobemide group and 5/37 ( 13.5 % ) for placebo ( NS ) . Moclobemide was significantly superior to placebo on 2 of 10 primary outcome measures .  Moclobemide was well tolerated . CONCLUSIONS Moclobemide may have efficacy in the treatment of social phobia , but absence of significant differences on most primary outcome measures and small effect sizes for all outcome measures suggest that the magnitude of its clinical effect is small
Cognitive behavior therapy  appears to be more effective than other evidence -based psychological techniques , and its effects appear to be more enduring than those of pharmacotherapy .
There is some evidence , albeit limited to certain drug classes , that the combination of  medication and cognitive behavior therapy may be more effective than either strategy used alone .
This article proposes a number of recommendations for the treatment of  generalized social phobia  , based on a systematic literature review and meta- analysis .
For medications , selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and dual serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are first-line choices based on their efficacy and tolerability profiles .
There are other medication classes with demonstrated efficacy in social phobia ( benzodiazepines , antipsychotics , alpha-2-delta lig and s ) , but due to limited published clinical trial data and the potential for dependence and withdrawal issues with benzodiazepines , it is unclear how best to incorporate these drugs into treatment regimens .