A Comparison of Amitriptyline with Chlordiazepoxide in Anxiety

Abstract

Introduction' . , . It is ~idely accepted that an increasingly high perce~tage of patie~tsattending the' General Practitioner's surgery, do so because of minor psychiatric, disturbances. This indeed has been the experience of the authors,working in general practice in the Armed Forces, wher~although .there tends to bea bias towards the younger age groups who consequently have a higher degree of health and fitness;' nevertheless the stresses and strains of living both in a military envirollmentas well as in. the 1970's produce a large .• number of such disturbances.' Wawmim .(1973) notes, particularly amongst the wives and dependants of military personnel, the stressful aspects of service life such as separation of husband and wife, separation from . parents, isolation,inan unfainili~r . environment, and the nomadic existance: Otherindicajions of this liability to mental i11ness are givellby McGhie and McConvell (1953);and Wallis (1968). In a recent survey . of the clinical work of the .psychiatric .services based at the British Military Hospital, Singapore; Glen (1972) has indicated that over onethirq of patients seen by that depart~ . . ment were either suffering from reactive depression or anxiety states. '