Benzodiazepines

Abstract

Treatment of AnxietyNeurotic anxiety is by far the most common indication for benzodiazepines. In a three-month period, approximately one in 10 American adults will take diazepam because of tension or nervousness. Symptomatic anxiety is extremely common among the adult population, but whether it is severe or prevalent enough to justify this extent of pharmacotherapy is questionable.Anxiety is an elusive clinical syndrome. It describes a psychophysiologic response resembling fear but inappropriate to the reality of the perceived threat. Manifestations can include psychic symptoms (irritability, tension, excessive worry, and inappropriate apprehension), somatic symptoms (palpitations, breathlessness, diaphoresis, tremor, urinary frequency, fatigue, . . .