Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T11:20:56.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Medical Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Anxiety

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Borwin Bandelow*
Affiliation:
Dr. Bandelow is professor of psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Göttingen in, Germany
*
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, The University of Göttingen, von-Siebold-Str. 5, 37075 Göttingen, GermanyE-mail, [email protected]

Abstract

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are first-line pharmacotherapy treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Clomipramine is effective in OCD but associated with more adverse events. Typically, higher doses of antidepressants are required for OCD. Up to 50% of patients do not respond to initial treatment of OCD. Treatment options for nonresponders include augmentation of antidepressants with atypical antipsychotics, among other strategies. First-line treatments for anxiety disorders include SSRIs, serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, and pregabalin. Tricyclic antidepressants are equally effective as SSRIs, but are less well tolerated. In treatment-resistant cases, benzodiazepines may be used when the patient does not have a history of dependency and tolerance. Other treatment options include irreversible and reversible monoamine oxidase inhibitors, the atypical antipsychotic quetiapine, and other medications. Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been sufficiently investigated in controlled studies of OCD and anxiety disorders and is recommended alone or in combination with the above medications.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Norton, PJ, Price, EC. A meta-analytic review of adult cognitive-behavioral treatment outcome across the anxiety disorders. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2007;195:521531.Google Scholar
2.Hofmann, SG, Smits, JA. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for adult anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials. J Clin Psychiatry. 2008;69(4):621632.Google Scholar
3.Bandelow, B, Seidler-Brandler, U, Becker, A, Wedekind, D, Ruther, E. Meta-analysis of randomized controlled comparisons of psychopharmacological and psycho-logical treatments for anxiety disorders. World J Biol Psychiatry. 2007;8:175187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Bandelow, B, Zohar, J, Hollander, E, Kasper, S, Möller, HJ. World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and posttraumatic stress disorders. World J Biol Psychiatry. 2002;3:171199.Google Scholar
5.Bandelow, B, Zohar, J, Hollander, E, Kasper, S, Möller, HJ. World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and posttraumatic stress disorders, First Revision. World J Biol Psychiatry. In press.Google Scholar
6.Price, JS, Waller, PC, Wood, SM, MacKay, AV. A comparison of the post-marketing safety of four selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors including the investigation of symptoms occurring on withdrawal. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1996;42:757763.Google Scholar
7.Stahl, MM, Lindquist, M, Pettersson, M, et al.Withdrawal reactions with selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors as reported to the WHO system. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1997;53:163169.Google Scholar
8.Wagner, KD, Cook, EH, Chung, H, Messig, M. Remission status after long-term ser-traline treatment of pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2003;13(suppl 1):5360.Google Scholar
9.Stein, DJ, Andersen, EW, Tonnoir, B, Fineberg, N. Escitalopram in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a randomized, placebo-controlled, paroxetine-referenced, fixed-dose, 24-week study. Curr Med Res Opin. 2007;23:701711.Google Scholar
10.Fineberg, NA, Tonnoir, B, Lemming, O, Stein, DJ. Escitalopram prevents relapse of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2007;17:430439.Google Scholar
11.Bose, A, Korotzer, A, Gommoll, C, Li, D. Randomized placebo-controlled trial of escitalopram and venlafaxine XR in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. Depress Anxiety. 2007. Epub ahead of print.Google Scholar
12.Hartford, J, Kornstein, S, Liebowitz, M, et al.Duloxetine as an SNRI treatment for generalized anxiety disorder: results from a placebo and active-controlled trial. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2007;22:167174.Google Scholar
13.Yaryura-Tobias, JA, Neziroglu, FA. Venlafaxine in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1996;53:653654.Google Scholar
14.Denys, D, van der Wee, N, van Megen, HJ, Westenberg, HG. A double blind com-parison of venlafaxine and paroxetine in obsessive-compulsive disorder. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2003;23:568575.Google Scholar
15.Montgomery, SA, Tobias, K, Zornberg, GL, Kasper, S, Pande, AC. Efficacy and safety of pregabalin in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder: a 6-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled comparison of pregabalin and venlafaxine. J Clin Psychiatry. 2006;67:771782.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Bandelow, B, Wedekind, D, Leon, T. Pregabalin for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder: a novel pharmacologic intervention. Expert Rev Neurother. 2007;7:769781.Google Scholar
17.IMCTGMSP. The International Multicenter Clinical Trial Group on Moclobemide in Social Phobia. Moclobemide in social phobia. A double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1997;247:7180.Google Scholar
18.Stein, DJ, Cameron, A, Amrein, R, Montgomery, SA. Moclobemide is effective and well tolerated in the long-term pharmacotherapy of social anxiety disorder with or without comorbid anxiety disorder. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2002;17:161170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Versiani, M, Nardi, AE, Mundim, FD, Alves, AB, Liebowitz, MR, Amrein, R. Pharmacotherapy of social phobia. A controlled study with moclobemide and phenelzine. Br J Psychiatry. 1992;161:353360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Schneier, FR, Goetz, D, Campeas, R, Fallon, B, Marshall, R, Liebowitz, MR. Placebo-controlled trial of moclobemide in social phobia. Br J Psychiatry. 1998;172:7077.Google Scholar
21.Noyes, R Jr., Moroz, G, Davidson, JR, et al.Moclobemide in social phobia: a con-trolled dose-response trial. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1997;17:247254.Google Scholar
22.Tiller, JW, Bouwer, C, Behnke, K. Moclobemide and fluoxetine for panic disorder. International Panic Disorder Study Group. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1999;249(suppl 1):710.Google Scholar
23.Krüger, MB, Dahl, AA. The efficacy and safety of moclobemide compared to clomipramine in the treatment of panic disorder. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1999;249(suppl 1):1924.Google Scholar
24.Loerch, B, Graf-Morgenstern, M, Hautzinger, M, et al.Randomised placebo-controlled trial of moclobemide, cognitive- behavioural therapy and their combination in panic disorder with agoraphobia. Br J Psychiatry. 1999;174:205212.Google Scholar
25.Hewlett, WA, Vinogradov, S, Agras, WS. Clomipramine, clonazepam, and clonidine treatment of obsessive- compulsive disorder. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1992;12:420430.Google Scholar
26.Rickels, K. Benzodiazepines in the treatment of anxiety. Am J Psychother. 1982;36:358370.Google Scholar
27.Davidson, JR, DuPont, RL, Hedges, D, Haskins, JT. Efficacy, safety, and tolerability of venlafaxine extended release and buspirone in outpatients with generalized anxiety disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 1999;60:528535.Google Scholar
28.Strand, M, Hetta, J, Rosen, A, et al.A double-blind, controlled trial in primary care patients with generalized anxiety: a comparison between buspirone and oxazepam. J Clin Psychiatry. 1990;51(suppl):4045.Google Scholar
29.Lader, M, Scotto, JC. A multicentre double-blind comparison of hydroxyzine, buspirone and placebo in patients with generalized anxiety disorder. Psychopharmacology Berl. 1998;139;402406.Google Scholar
30.Pollack, MH, Worthington, JJ, Manfro, GG, Otto, MW, Zucker, BG. Abecarnil for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder: a placebo-controlled comparison of two dosage ranges of abecarnil and buspirone. J Clin Psychiatry. 1997;58(suppl 11):1923.Google Scholar
31.Bandelow, B, Bobes, J, Ahokas, A, Eggens, I, Liu, S, Brecher, M. Results from a phase III study of once-daily extended release quetiapine fumarate (quetiapine XR) monotherapy in patients with generalised anxiety disorder. Int J Psychiatry. 2007;11:314315.Google Scholar
32.Stein, DJ, Ahokas, A, Fabiano., A. Agomelatine in generalized anxiety disorder: a randomized, placebo-controlled study. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2007;17(suppl 4):509.Google Scholar
33.Montgomery, SA, McIntyre, A, Osterheider, M, et al.A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of fluoxetine in patients with DSM-III-R obsessive-compulsive disorder. The Lilly European OCD Study Group. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 1993;3:143152.Google Scholar
34.Hollander, E, Allen, A, Steiner, M, Wheadon, DE, Oakes, R, Burnham, DB. Acute and long-term treatment and prevention of relapse of obsessive-compulsive disorder with paroxetine. J Clin Psychiatry. 2003;64:11131121.Google Scholar
35.Tollefson, GD, Rampey, AH Jr, Potvin, JH, et al.A multicenter investigation of fixed-dose fluoxetine in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994;51:559567.Google Scholar
36.Greist, JH, Jefferson, JW, Kobak, KA, et al.A 1 year double-blind placebo-controlled fixed dose study of sertraline in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 1995;10:5765.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
37.Montgomery, SA, Kasper, S, Stein, DJ, Bang Hedegaard, K, Lemming, OM. Citalopram 20 mg, 40 mg and 60 mg are all effective and well tolerated compared with placebo in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2001;16:7586.Google Scholar
38.Ninan, PT, Koran, LM, Kiev, A, et al.High-dose sertraline strategy for nonresponders to acute treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder: a multi-center double-blind trial. J Clin Psychiatry. 2006;67:1522.Google Scholar
39.Rabinowitz, I, Baruch, Y, Barak, Y. High-dose escitalopram for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2008;23:4953.Google Scholar
40.Bandelow, B, Baldwin, DS, Dolberg, OT, Andersen, HF, Stein, DJ. What is the threshold for symptomatic response and remission for mjor depressive disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder? J Clin Psychiatry. 2006;67:14281434.Google Scholar
41.Bandelow, B. Defining response and remission in anxiety disorders: toward an integrated approach. CNS Spectr. 2006;11:2128.Google Scholar
42.Pollack, MH, Otto, MW, Kaspi, SP, Hammerness, PG, Rosenbaum, JF. Cognitive behavior therapy for treatment-refractory panic disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 1994;55:200205.Google ScholarPubMed
43.Heldt, E, Manfro, GG, Kipper, L, et al.Treating medication-resistant panic disorder: predictors and outcome of cognitive-behavior therapy in a Brazilian public hospital. Psychother Psychosom. 2003;72:4348.Google Scholar
44.Clomipramine Collaborative Study Group. Clomipramine in the treatment of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The Clomipramine Collaborative Study Group. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1991;48:730738.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
45.Todorov, C, Freeston, MH, Borgeat, F. On the pharmacotherapy of obsessive-compulsive disorder: is a consensus possible? Can J Psychiatry. 2000;45:257262.Google Scholar
46.Piccinelli, M, Pini, S, Bellantuono, C, Wilkinson, G. Efficacy of drug treatment in obsessive-compulsive disorder. A metaanalytic review. Br J Psychiatry. 1995;166:424443.Google Scholar
47.Mundo, E, Maina, G, Uslenghi, C. Multicentre, double-blind, comparison of fluvox-amine and clomipramine in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2000;15:6976.Google Scholar
48.Milanfranchi, A, Ravagli, S, Lensi, P, Marazziti, D, Cassano, GB. A double-blind study of fluvoxamine and clomipramine in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 1997;12:131136.Google Scholar
49.Bisserbe, J, Lane, R, Flament, M. A double-blind comparison of sertraline and clomipramine in outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Eur Psychiatry. 1997;12:8293.Google Scholar
50.Zohar, J, Judge, R. Paroxetine versus clomipramine in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD Paroxetine Study Investigators. Br J Psychiatry. 1996;169;468474.Google Scholar
51.Fineberg, NA, Stein, DJ, Premkumar, P, et al.Adjunctive quetiapine for serotonin reup-take inhibitor-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled treatment trials. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2006;21:337343.Google Scholar
52.Bloch, MH, Landeros-Weisenberger, A, et al.A systematic review: antipsychotic augmentation with treatment refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder. Mol Psychiatry. 2006;11:622632.Google Scholar
53.Skapinakis, P, Papatheodorou, T, Mavreas, V. Antipsychotic augmentation of sero-tonergic antidepressants in treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder: a meta-analysis of the randomized controlled trials. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2007;17:7993.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
54.Cottraux, J, Bouvard, MA, Milliery, M. Combining Pharmacotherapy with cogni-tive-behavioral interventions for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cogn Behav Ther. 2005;34:185192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
55.Milrod, B, Leon, AC, Busch, F, et al.A randomized controlled clinical trial of psy-choanalytic psychotherapy for panic disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2007;164:265272.Google Scholar
56.Bandelow, B, Broocks, A, Pekrun, G, et al.The use of the Panic and Agoraphobia Scale (P & A) in a controlled clinical trial. Pharmacopsychiatry. 2000;33:174181.Google Scholar
57.Ballenger, JC, Davidson, JRT, Lecrubier, Y, et al.Consensus statement on generalized anxiety disorder from the international consensus group on depression and anxiety. J Clin Psychiatry. 2001;62(suppl 11):5358.Google Scholar