SSRIs beneficial for social anxiety disorder

Compared with placebo, SSRIs (paroxetine, fluvoxamine, sertraline, fluoxetine and citalopram) were the only medication class that demonstrated consistent evidence of reductions in functional disability across a number of domains (very low to moderate-quality evidence). Treatment with SSRIs and reversible inhibitors of monoamine oxidase A (RIMAs) was also associated with a reduction in depression symptoms. Tolerability of SSRIs was lower than for placebo, but absolute withdrawal rates were low. There was also evidence for an effect of SSRIs in preventing relapse (moderate-quality evidence). Most SSRI studies lasted at least 12 weeks. There was a response to long-term (20–24 weeks) treatment for the SSRIs (low-quality evidence), for the monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs; very low-quality evidence) and the RIMAs (moderate-quality evidence).