Use of benzodiazepines in obsessive–compulsive disorder

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the frequency of benzodiazepine (BDZ) use in a large sample of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and ascertain the type of BDZ used and the correlates and predictors of BDZ use in OCD. Conclusions: This is the first study to comprehensively examine BDZ use in OCD subjects, demonstrating that it is relatively common, despite recommendations from treatment guidelines. Use of BDZs in combination with several other medications over time and in patients with marked anxiety suggests that OCD patients taking BDZs may be more complex and more difficult to manage. This calls for further research and clarification of the role of BDZs in the treatment of OCD. Methods

International prescribing practices in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

“…Indeed, over 50% of OCD patients were found in an Australian sample (Brakoulias et al ., ) to suffer from a co‐occurring anxiety disorder. Also, the use of benzodiazepines among Brazilian OCD patients was predicted by high anxiety levels (Starcevic et al ., ). Finally, the particularly high rate of benzodiazepine use in the Brazilian sample may be because of their low cost, greater accessibility and high rates of general benzodiazepine use and abuse in Brazil (Kapczinski et al ., ).…”

Impact of Benzodiazepines and Illness Duration on Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder during COVID-19 in Italy: Exploring Symptoms’ Evolutionary Benefits

“…In contrast, patients not using benzodiazepines did not show significant differences in any scale at any time point. Even if benzodiazepines are not a first-line treatment of OCD, their efficacy in this category of patients has been documented in scientific literature, as they were reported to reduce OCD symptoms and improve patients' quality of life, suggesting that benzodiazepines can be an effective treatment for a subgroup of OCD patients with an anxious diathesis [25][26][27]. Consistently, a possible explanation for the findings of our study is that the benzodiazepine use might be a proxy of an anxious diathesis characterizing a subgroup of patients and that this proneness to anxiety made them more worried about the environmental circumstances and more susceptible to psychopathological worsening in case of adversities.…”

Symptom Severity Changes in Obsessive-Compulsive Patients during COVID-19 Pandemic Are Associated with Shorter Illness Duration and Benzodiazepine Use: Possible Evolutionary Advantage of a Psychiatric Disorder

“…2 A-B). Even if benzodiazepines are not a first-line treatment of OCD, their efficacy in this category of patients has been documented in scientific literature, as they were reported to reduce OCD symptoms and improve patients' quality of life, suggesting that benzodiazepines can be an effective treatment for a subgroup of OCD patients with an anxious diathesis [23][24][25]. Consistently, a possible explanation for the findings of our study is that the benzodiazepine use might be a proxy of an anxious diathesis characterizing a subgroup of patients, and that this proneness to anxiety made them more worried about the environmental circumstances and more susceptible of psychopathological worsening in case of adversities.…”