Posted by paul on November 27, 1999, at 14:59:10
In reply to Re: social anxiety-HELP!!!, posted by Jane on November 27, 1999, at 10:58:05
I recently saw a TV ad for Paxil in which it was claimed that Paxil is the first FDA-approved medication for the treatment of "social anxiety." All of my previous reading about social phobia/anxiety gave me the impression that SSRIs didn't show any particular promise in alleviating the condition and that MAOIs were the "gold standard" in this regard.
I am curious about a couple of things. Were the MAOIs ever approved by the FDA for the treatment of social phobia/anxiety? If they have been proven effective, even without FDA approval, is it misleading for SmithKline Beecham to imply that Paxil is a sort of medical breakthrough for this condition? Also, is there anything about Paxil in particular that (in theory) makes it more effective for social phobia, as opposed to Zoloft or Prozac? I'm very curious, because I have been taking Zoloft for over a year, and I'm skeptical that Paxil is really that much different. My hunch is that SKB just happened to test Paxil for this indication first and beat the rest to the finish line, but I could be wrong...
poster:paul
thread:15816
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991123/msgs/15833.html