The use of tiagabine and gabapentin in the treatment of social anxiety disorder in 8 patients

Social Anxiety Disorder creates stress and significant disability for patients. Common treatments like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and benzodiazepines have undesirable side effects like sexual dysfunction or the potential for drug abuse/ dependence. The objective of the study was to see if alternative medications - tiagabine and gabapentin - already shown to be effective in other anxiety disorders might be effective for social anxiety disorder too. Subjects were selected to have social anxiety disorder by meeting the DSM-IV criteria and having a high score on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Subjects were chosen who were generally healthy and had no other psychiatric diagnoses. They received a physical exam and lab work before starting the study. Each individual received each medication at a steady dosage for 4 weeks after being slowly increased for two weeks. The subjects took a Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale and Clinical Global Impression Scale on each visit as well as reported efficacy of the medication (unknown to the patient or the investigator) and any side effects. Eight patients completed the study. Both medications were well tolerated with sedation and mild dizziness being the most common. All subjects with severe social anxiety responded well to both medications with two subjects reaching remission of symptoms. Gabapentin and tiagabine should be considered as effective alternate treatments for social anxiety disorder.