Mark Pollack, M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital
Question: Are medications always effective for anxiety disorders?
Answer: The outcomes for patients who are treated for anxiety disorders with either medications or behavior therapy suggest that somewhere around half to two thirds of people are going to experience significant benefit with one of these types of interventions. However, most people who are treated with the first intervention have at least some residual symptoms, so they continue to be at least somewhat symptomatic. And some people fail to respond at all.
So, while the treatments we have are clearly effective, it's not uncommon in practice to have to have a number of different trials of different medications, or of medications instead of or in combination with cognitive behavior therapy or behavioral therapy alone in order to get an optimal response.
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