Please read Dr. Bushnell’s article in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry titled, “Simultaneous Benzodiazepine and SSRI Initiation in Young People with Anxiety Disorders.“
Antidepressants are typically recommended as the first-line pharmacotherapy for anxiety disorders in children and adults. Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are prescribed alone or with antidepressants for acute treatment to rapidly reduce moderate to severe anxiety symptoms or as an augmentation strategy to treat residual anxiety symptoms. In children, there is no evidence that BZDs are efficacious in treating anxiety disorders, with only a few trials having been conducted. The recently released 2020 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry guideline for pediatric anxiety calls for more research on the benefits and harms of BZDs given insufficient information. To read the full article.
Simultaneous Benzodiazepine and SSRI Initiation in Young People with Anxiety Disorders. Bushnell GA, Rynn MA, Crystal S, Gerhard T, Olfson M .J Clin Psychiatry. 2021 Oct 19;82(6):20m13863. PMID: 34670029 DOI: 4088/JCP.20m13863