Treatment Guidelines: Anxiety and Related Disorders

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)/ Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)

• Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder: an update of the PTSD repository evidence base (2023)
  • Systematic Review (2023)
• Psychological and pharmacological treatments for adults with posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review update (2018)

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)

• Clinical practice guideline for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders (2020)
• Practice parameters for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (1998)

American Academy of Family Physician (AAFP)

• Generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder in adults (2022)

American Psychiatric Association (APA)

• Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with panic disorder (2009)    
• Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (2004, with 2009 guideline watch)    
• Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (2007, with 2013 guideline watch)

American Psychological Association

• Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of PTSD in Adults (2025)    

Canadian Anxiety Disorders Initiative

• Canadian clinical practice guidelines for the management of anxiety, posttraumatic stress and obsessive-compulsive disorders (2014)

British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP)

• Evidence-based pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (2014)

Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments

• Perinatal Mood, Anxiety and Related Disorders (2024) Canadian Institute for Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (CIOCD) – International Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Accreditation Task Force (ATF)
  • Knowledge and competency standards for specialized treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder throughout the lifespan (2021)

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

• Generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder in adults: management (2020)  
• Post-traumatic stress disorder: management (2018)  
• Social anxiety disorder: recognition, assessment, and treatment (2013)  
  • 2017 Surveillance report (result: no plan to update guideline)
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder: treatment (2005)  
  • 2019 Surveillance report (result: update to guideline in progress)

Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health

• Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Acute Stress Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Complex PTSD (2021)

Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense

• Clinical practice guideline for management of post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder (2023)

World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP)

• Guidelines for treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and posttraumatic stress disorders – Version 3. Part 1: Anxiety Disorders (published in 2002, updated in 2022)
• Guidelines for treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and posttraumatic stress disorders – Version 3. Part 11: OCD and PTSD (published 2002, updated 2022)

Reviewer 1: Allison Beatty, PharmD, BCPP
Reviewer 2: Claire Herbst, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP
2025-2026 AAPP Resident and New Practitioner Committee