TY - JOUR
T1 - Treatment effects of alprazolam and imipramine
T2 - Physiological versus subjective changes in patients with generalized anxiety disorder
AU - McLeod, Daniel R.
AU - Hoehn-Saric, Rudolf
AU - Zimmerli, Wesley D.
AU - De Souza, Errol B.
AU - Oliver, Lawrence K.
N1 - Funding Information:
From the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (DRM, RH-S, WDZ); the Department of Health a~d Human Services, NIDA Addiction Research Center, Baltimore, MD (EDrJ); and The Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, MI (LKO). Supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health grant No. MH35435 and by a grant from The Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Address reprint requests to Da~-aiel R. McLeod, Ph.D., The Johns Hopk,~nsU niversity Sct~oolo f Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Meyer 144, Baltimore, MD 21205. Received February 9, 1990; revised May 24, 1990.
PY - 1990/11/15
Y1 - 1990/11/15
N2 - The correspondence between changes in physiological activity and somatic symptom reports was assessed in generalized anxiety disorder patients treated with alprazolam or imipramine. After 6 weeks, the two medications produced comparable reductions in self-reported somatic symptoms. However, patients taking alprazolam showed decreases in systolic blood pressure, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, and patients taking imipramine showed increases in heart rate, blood pressure, electromyographic activity, and norepinephrine. Thus, though the physiological changes associated with alprazolam treatment were consistent with changes in symptom reports, treatment with imipramine produced a desynchrony: patients reported significant decreases in cardiovascular symptoms and muscle tension in spite of the fact that heart rate, blood pressure, and electromyographic activity increased. Possible explanations for this counterintuitive phenomenon are discussed.
AB - The correspondence between changes in physiological activity and somatic symptom reports was assessed in generalized anxiety disorder patients treated with alprazolam or imipramine. After 6 weeks, the two medications produced comparable reductions in self-reported somatic symptoms. However, patients taking alprazolam showed decreases in systolic blood pressure, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, and patients taking imipramine showed increases in heart rate, blood pressure, electromyographic activity, and norepinephrine. Thus, though the physiological changes associated with alprazolam treatment were consistent with changes in symptom reports, treatment with imipramine produced a desynchrony: patients reported significant decreases in cardiovascular symptoms and muscle tension in spite of the fact that heart rate, blood pressure, and electromyographic activity increased. Possible explanations for this counterintuitive phenomenon are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1016/0006-3223(90)90567-L
DO - 10.1016/0006-3223(90)90567-L
M3 - Article
C2 - 2268689
AN - SCOPUS:0025202848
SN - 0006-3223
VL - 28
SP - 849
EP - 861
JO - Biological psychiatry
JF - Biological psychiatry
IS - 10
ER -