The experience of using agomelatine (Valdoxan) in the treatment of generalised anxiety disorder

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common anxiety disorders worldwide. Without treatment, GAD is characterised by a chronic course and significantly impairs social and occupational functioning. The main method of treating GAD in clinical practice is psychopharmacotherapy. Despite the fact that psychiatrists have a fairly large number of psychotropic drugs at their disposal, which are used in accordance with international and domestic clinical guidelines for the treatment of GAD, a number of therapeutic aspects remained unresolved until recently. In the updated clinical guidelines, agomelatine, an antidepressant that acts on melatonergic (MT 1 , MT 2 ) and serotonergic (5-HT 2C ) receptors, was included among the first-line drugs for the treatment of GAD. The efficacy of agomelatine in treating GAD symptoms has been demonstrated in a number of randomised clinical trials. This article presents our own observations, illustrating some aspects of the use of agomelatine in real clinical practice.