Our review confirms the usefulness of long-term pharmacological treatments for PD and GAD and suggests that they can provide further improvement over that obtained during short-term therapy .
Paroxetine , escitalopram , and clonazepam can be effective for long-term treatment of PD .
Pregabalin and quetiapine can be effective for long-term treatment of GAD , while preliminary suggestions emerged for agomelatine and vortioxetine .
We did not find any evidence for determining the optimal length and /or dosage of medications to minimize the relapse risk .
Many aspects of long-term pharmacological treatments for  anxiety disorders ( AnxDs ) are still debated .
We undertook an up date d systematic review of long-term pharmacological studies on panic disorder ( PD ) , generalized anxiety disorder ( GAD ) , and social anxiety disorder ( SAD ) .
Rate of improvement during and across three treatments for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia: cognitive behavioral therapy, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or both combined.
BACKGROUND Existing literature on panic disorder ( PD ) yields no data regarding the differential rates of improvement during Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ( CBT ) , Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor ( SSRI ) or both combined ( CBT+SSRI ) . METHOD Patients were r and omized to CBT , SSRI or CBT+SSRI which each lasted one year including three months of medication taper . Participating patients kept record of the frequency of panic attacks throughout the full year of treatment . Rate of improvement on panic frequency and the relationship between rate of improvement and baseline agoraphobia ( AG ) were examined . RESULTS A significant decline in frequency of panic attacks was observed for each treatment modality . SSRI and CBT+SSRI were associated with a significant faster rate of improvement as compared to CBT . Gains were maintained after tapering medication . For patients with moderate or severe AG , CBT+SSRI was associated with a more rapid improvement on panic frequency as compared to patients receiving either mono-treatment . LIMITATIONS Frequency of panic attacks was not assessed beyond the full year of treatment . Second , only one process variable was used . CONCLUSIONS Patients with PD respond well to each treatment as indicated by a significant decline in panic attacks .  CBT is associated with a slower rate of improvement as compared to SSRI and CBT+SSRI . Discontinuation of SSRI treatment does not result in a revival of frequency of panic attacks . Our data suggest that for patients without or with only mild AG , SSRI-only will suffice . For patients with moderate or severe AG , the combined CBT+SSRI treatment is recommended
Our review confirms the usefulness of long-term pharmacological treatments for PD and GAD and suggests that they can provide further improvement over that obtained during short-term therapy .
Paroxetine , escitalopram , and clonazepam can be effective for long-term treatment of PD .
Pregabalin and quetiapine can be effective for long-term treatment of GAD , while preliminary suggestions emerged for agomelatine and vortioxetine .
We did not find any evidence for determining the optimal length and /or dosage of medications to minimize the relapse risk .
Many aspects of long-term pharmacological treatments for  anxiety disorders ( AnxDs ) are still debated .
We undertook an up date d systematic review of long-term pharmacological studies on panic disorder ( PD ) , generalized anxiety disorder ( GAD ) , and social anxiety disorder ( SAD ) .