Clinical observations suggest that patients with generalized anxiety
disorder differ in somatic symptoms. The authors compared 28 patients with
generalized anxiety disorder who had high levels of cardiovascular
complaints with 32 patients with generalized anxiety disorder who had low
levels of cardiovascular complaints on rating instruments, physiological
measures, and use of anxiolytic medication. The two groups differed on
somatic but not psychic symptoms on rating instruments. Patients with high
levels of cardiovascular symptoms had higher levels of cardiac lability and
required higher doses of alprazolam. These findings suggest that anxious
patients with comparable levels of psychic anxiety may differ in levels of
physical symptoms.
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