Question: For adults of working age engaged in psychological therapies, what impact does concurrent Benzodiazepine use have on the effectiveness of the intervention?

Answer:

No definite clinical implications can be made based on the available evidence. The limited evidence suggested similar outcomes for those randomised to psychotherapy plus benzodiazepines versus those randomised to psychotherapy alone- but the results may not be reliable or generalisable. The authors of a systematic review suggested that, based on the limited evidence, behaviour therapy alongside benzodiazepine use may be better than behaviour therapy alone for panic disorder with agoraphobia during the acute phase, but afterwards this trend may be reversed.  The authors also stated that more high-quality trials for combined benzodiazepine and psychotherapy treatment must be conducted before stronger treatment recommendations can be made.

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