Choosing SSRI or SNRI for anxiety or OCD? Meta‐analysis may help

In treating pediatric obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have distinct adverse events (AEs), and greater adverse event–related discontinuation of treatment than serotonin‐norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). And SSRIs are more likely than SNRIs to produce “activation” (restlessness). SSRIs are better than SNRIs for anxiety, but for youths who are activated by SSRIs, SNRIs also have efficacy, and a lower risk of activation, researchers have found in a meta‐analysis published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry .