Anxiety and Depression: What if I have both?

Abstract

The addition of a benzodiazepine to an SSRI provides more rapid global improvement of generalized anxiety disorder and depression than an SSRI alone. Patients are less likely to discontinue treatment and more likely to show improvement than those receiving antidepressant monotherapy. In addition, the risks of benzodiazepine abuse are low outside of the setting of polysubstance abuse. Overall, patients with co-existing depression and anxiety should be treated in the initial few weeks with combination therapy to prevent premature drop-out from treatment.