Objective-The authors sought to observe the long-term clinical course of anxiety disorders over 12 years and to examine the influence of comorbid psychiatric disorders on recovery from or recurrence of panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and social phobia.Method-Data were drawn from the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Disorders Research Program, a prospective, naturalistic, longitudinal, multicenter study of adults with a current or past history of anxiety disorders. Probabilities of recovery and recurrence were calculated by using standard survival analysis methods. Proportional hazards regression analyses with time-varying covariates were conducted to determine risk ratios for possible comorbid psychiatric predictors of recovery and recurrence.Results-Survival analyses revealed an overall chronic course for the majority of the anxiety disorders. Social phobia had the smallest probability of recovery after 12 years of follow-up. Moreover, patients who had prospectively observed recovery from their intake anxiety disorder had a high probability of recurrence over the follow-up period. The overall clinical course was worsened by several comorbid psychiatric conditions, including major depression and alcohol and other substance use disorders, and by comorbidity of generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder with agoraphobia.Conclusions-These data depict the anxiety disorders as insidious, with a chronic clinical course, low rates of recovery, and relatively high probabilities of recurrence. The presence of particular comorbid psychiatric disorders significantly lowered the likelihood of recovery from anxiety disorders and increased the likelihood of their recurrence. The findings add to the understanding of the nosology and treatment of these disorders.Anxiety disorders are more common than any other major group of diagnoses, with the exception of substance use disorders. According to the National Comorbidity Survey, the overall lifetime prevalence of anxiety disorders is 24.9%, including rates of 3.5%, 13.3%, 5.1%, for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, social phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder, respectively (1). The effects of these disorders on both physical health and occupational functioning have been well documented (2-6). In the WHO Collaborative Study on Psychological Problems in General Health Care, more than one-half of the patients with panic disorder without or with agoraphobia reported moderate to severe occupational Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Bruce, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Box G-BH, Providence, RI 02906; Steven_Bruce_PhD@Brown.edu (e-mail). NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript dysfunction and physical disability (3). The severity of disability reported was similar to that reported for depressive episodes and higher than that for alcohol dependence.Despite the high prevalence of anxiety disorders and the morbidity associated with these disorders, much is yet...

Most women of reproductive age have some physical discomfort or dysphoria in the weeks before menstruation. Symptoms are often mild, but can be severe enough to substantially affect daily activities. About 5-8% of women thus suffer from severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS); most of these women also meet criteria for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Mood and behavioural symptoms, including irritability, tension, depressed mood, tearfulness, and mood swings, are the most distressing, but somatic complaints, such as breast tenderness and bloating, can also be problematic. We outline theories for the underlying causes of severe PMS, and describe two main methods of treating it: one targeting the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary axis, and the other targeting brain serotonergic synapses. Fluctuations in gonadal hormone levels trigger the symptoms, and thus interventions that abolish ovarian cyclicity, including long-acting analogues of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) or oestradiol (administered as patches or implants), effectively reduce the symptoms, as can some oral contraceptives. The effectiveness of serotonin reuptake inhibitors, taken throughout the cycle or during luteal phases only, is also well established.

Men and women with chronic depression show differential responsivity to and tolerability of SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants. The differing response rates between the drug classes in women was observed primarily in premenopausal women. Thus, female sex hormones may enhance response to SSRIs or inhibit response to tricyclics. Both gender and menopausal status should be considered when choosing an appropriate antidepressant for a depressed patient.

Objective To address the maternal and neonatal risks of both depression and antidepressant exposure and develop algorithms for periconceptional and antenatal management. Method Representatives from the American Psychiatric Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a consulting developmental pediatrician collaborated to review English language articles on fetal and neonatal outcomes associated with depression and antidepressant treatment during childbearing. Articles were obtained from Medline searches and bibliographies. Search keywords included pregnancy, pregnancy complications, pregnancy outcomes, depressive disorder, depressive disorder/dt, abnormalities/drug-induced/epidemiology, abnormalities/drug-induced/et. Iterative draft manuscripts were reviewed until consensus was achieved. Results Both depressive symptoms and antidepressant exposure are associated with fetal growth changes and shorter gestations, but the majority of studies that evaluated antidepressant risks were unable to control for the possible effects of a depressive disorder. Short-term neonatal irritability and neurobehavioral changes are also linked with maternal depression and antidepressant treatment. Several studies report fetal malformations in association with first trimester antidepressant exposure but there is no specific pattern of defects for individual medications or class of agents. The association between paroxetine and cardiac defects is more often found in studies that included all malformations rather than clinically significant malformations. Late gestational use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants is associated with transitory neonatal signs and a low risk for persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborn. Psychotherapy alone is an appropriate treatment for some pregnant women; however, others prefer pharmacotherapy or may require pharmacological treatment. Conclusions Antidepressant use in pregnancy is well studied, but available research has not yet adequately controlled for other factors that may influence birth outcomes including maternal illness or problematic health behaviors that can adversely affect pregnancy.

The existence of differences in risk factors for GAD and MDE argues against the view that the two disorders are merely different manifestations of a single underlying internalizing syndrome or that GAD is merely a prodrome, residual, or severity marker of MDE.

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Rates of postpartum depression among Latina and African American postpartum women are similar to epidemiologic rates for Caucasian postpartum and nonpostpartum women. As previously shown for Caucasian women, major depressive disorder in many Latina and African American postpartum women begins before delivery, revealing the need to screen pregnant women for depression.

Since treatment can be managed most effectively if pregnancy is planned, clinicians should discuss the issue of pregnancy and its management with every bipolar disorder patient who has childbearing potential, regardless of future reproductive plans. Additional research should address the risks of disturbed sleep to pregnant and postpartum women with bipolar disorder, as well as structural and behavioral consequences to offspring when mood stabilizers are used during pregnancy. Longitudinal and cohort studies can promote these efforts. Given the rate of bipolar disorder in the general population, research efforts will need to be broad based and include multiple collaborating centers.