Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
Anxiety disorders are a group of conditions marked by persistent, excessive fear or worry and behaviors (like avoidance) that cause real trouble in daily life. They are the most common class of psychiatric disorder — large surveys report that up to 33.7% of people will have one in their lifetime…
This article reviews a large body of research on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders. It focuses on two common CBT methods — exposure therapy and cognitive therapy — and concludes that CBT generally works for many anxiety problems. The authors also say it is hard to compare active CBT…
In a community study of 3,021 adolescents and young adults followed for 4–5 years, researchers used structured interviews (DSM‑IV CIDI) and found that most anxiety disorders (except panic disorder) began before depression and were linked to a higher chance of later major depression. Rates of people having both anxiety and…
This review summarizes drug treatments for adult anxiety disorders (panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias). It says well-known drugs such as SSRIs and SNRIs are commonly used and approved for some anxiety disorders. The authors found that research into truly new medications is limited, many…
The article describes “high functioning anxiety” as a way some people with anxiety symptoms talk about their experience, not as an official medical diagnosis. It says people can look successful and cope outwardly while having common anxiety symptoms, and that diagnosis can be hard because the symptom effects may be…
Researchers compared whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity in 21 people with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), 18 people with panic disorder (PD), and 22 matched healthy controls. They used a new measure called scaled correlation to look for differences across the brain. GAD showed stronger connections between the hippocampus/parahippocampus and the fusiform…
This review says cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a well-researched, first-line treatment for anxiety and related disorders. CBT is structured and often manualized, usually delivered weekly for a limited period (about 12–16 weeks) and sometimes followed by booster sessions. Core CBT methods are cognitive techniques (like identifying thinking traps, cognitive restructuring,…
The study recorded electrical muscle activity (EMG) from the forehead (frontalis) and calf (gastrocnemius) in 18 women with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and 19 nonanxious women during baseline, a lab stressor, and recovery. The GAD group had higher average EMG levels, and during the stressor they showed a drop in…
This review combined 65 randomized trials with 5,048 adults who had generalized anxiety disorder. The authors found that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) was linked with better short-term and long-term outcomes than treatment as usual. Third‑wave CBTs and relaxation therapy were linked with short-term benefits, but after removing studies judged to…
This study looked at 175 adults with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Clinician-rated problems with concentrating were linked to higher GAD, anxiety, and depression severity even after other GAD symptoms were taken into account. The data also showed that difficulty concentrating statistically explained part of the link between a person’s tendency…
These Indian clinical practice guidelines describe what generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder (PD) look like, how to assess them, and which treatments are commonly used. They say GAD involves worry most days for weeks or months, lists common symptoms, and recommends both medicines and psychological treatments. The guidelines…
Researchers tested 102 adults with and without generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) to see if a wrist-and-ankle movement monitor (actigraphy) could measure restlessness during a lab threat task. People with GAD said they felt more restless than people without GAD. The actigraphy readings rose as the threat got closer, and people…
