Alprazolam in the treatment of obsessive symptoms.

Four patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (DSM-III and RDC) were treated in an open trial with alprazolam. Moderate to marked improvement was noted in the degree of obsessionality, anxiety with motor tension, and secondary affective changes. The mixed anxiolytic-antidepressant properties of alprazolam are theorized as the basis for the clinical remissions.