title: Generalized anxiety disorder: psychopharmacotherapy update on a common and commonly overlooked condition.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article provides a brief review of the practical implications of the current diagnostic conceptualisation of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and an update on its pharmacotherapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The diagnostic criteria for GAD need to be refined, to better reflect its clinical features and to make GAD more clinically useful. Various pharmacological agents are effective for GAD and to some extent, allow a tailored treatment approach. In addition to effectiveness, the choice of medication is influenced by the speed of therapeutic action, tolerability and habit-forming properties.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, University of Sydney, Sydney Medical School - Nepean, Discipline of Psychiatry, Penrith, NSW, Australia vladan.starcevic@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Vladan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Starcevic
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans
keywords: diagnosis; diagnostic criteria; generalised anxiety disorder; guidelines; pharmacotherapy; review