Dropout rates did not differ between antidepressants .
The latter study showed very promising results of  sertraline  in children and adolescents with GAD , which warrants its replication in larger sample s. REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS The available evidence suggests that antidepressants are superior to placebo in treating GAD .
There is also evidence from placebo-controlled trials suggesting that these drugs are well tolerated by GAD patients .
Further trials of antidepressants for GAD will help to demonstrate which antidepressants should be used for which patients
BACKGROUND Pharmacological treatments have been successfully used to treat  Generalized Anxiety Disorder ( GAD ) .
The mainstay for the pharmacological treatment of GAD in past decades has been the use of benzodiazepine and non benzodiazepine anxiolytics .
Data emerging over the last two decades have shown that antidepressants may be equally effective to anxiolytics for treating GAD .
The use of antidepressants for treating GAD may be advantageous , due to the fact that GAD presents a high co morbidity ratio with major depressive disorder ( 62 % ) and dysthymia ( 37 % ) .
OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy and acceptability of antidepressants for treating generalized anxiety disorder .
Neurotic illness and its response to anxiolytic and antidepressant treatment.
Two hundred and forty neurotic out- patients were allocated to no diagnostic category but were rated in terms of observer and self ratings of both depression and anxiety at weekly intervals during a 4-week trial of amitriptyline , diazepam , amitriptyline and diazepam , and placebo . The sample could not be divided into anxious and depressed groups on the basis of the clinical picture . The outcome tended to be good irrespective of medication but the significant drug effects found were due to amitriptyline and concerned measures of anxiety as well as depression . It is concluded that a distinction between anxiety and depression in neurotic out- patients is of no practical value with regard to drug treatment
Dropout rates did not differ between antidepressants .
The latter study showed very promising results of  sertraline  in children and adolescents with GAD , which warrants its replication in larger sample s. REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS The available evidence suggests that antidepressants are superior to placebo in treating GAD .
There is also evidence from placebo-controlled trials suggesting that these drugs are well tolerated by GAD patients .
Further trials of antidepressants for GAD will help to demonstrate which antidepressants should be used for which patients
BACKGROUND Pharmacological treatments have been successfully used to treat  Generalized Anxiety Disorder ( GAD ) .
The mainstay for the pharmacological treatment of GAD in past decades has been the use of benzodiazepine and non benzodiazepine anxiolytics .
Data emerging over the last two decades have shown that antidepressants may be equally effective to anxiolytics for treating GAD .
The use of antidepressants for treating GAD may be advantageous , due to the fact that GAD presents a high co morbidity ratio with major depressive disorder ( 62 % ) and dysthymia ( 37 % ) .
OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy and acceptability of antidepressants for treating generalized anxiety disorder .