A primary-care cohort described changes in diagnoses and initial treatment. Trends in recorded anxiety and benzodiazepine prescribing moved differently over the study period.
The study used records from 795 UK general practices between 1998 and 2018. Recorded generalized anxiety increased particularly among younger adults in the later years, with larger absolute rates among young women.
About half of drug-naive patients received an anxiety medicine within a year after diagnosis. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were the most common initial choice, while benzodiazepine prescribing rates fell steadily.
The analysis identified people seeking help whose symptoms or diagnoses were recorded. Coding practice, access, recognition, and treatment preferences can influence those trends.
The findings do not establish that anxiety became less severe because benzodiazepine use declined, or that every prescription was dispensed or taken. Forensic interpretation should separate a population prescribing trend from individual exposure and benefit. The study also cannot describe current practice beyond its recorded period without additional data.
Original analysis of the supplied journal article, identified as PMC8529638.