• Clinical Global Impression - Improvement ≤ 2 [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale [LSAS] (mean change from baseline) [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

• Clincal Global Impression -Improvement ≤ 2
• Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (mean change from baseline)

• Mean change from baseline on the following scales: Quality of Life and Employment Satisfaction Questionnaire [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Sheehan Disability Scale [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Social Phobia Scale [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Brief Social Phobia Scale [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Penn State Worry Questionnaire [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Panic and Agoraphobia Scale [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Davidson Trauma Scale [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Social Anxiety Spectrum Self-Report (SHY-SR) [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

• Mean change from baseline on the following scales:
• Quality of Life and Employment Satisfaction Questionnaire Sheehan Disability Scale
• Social Phobia Scale
• Brief Social Phobia Scale
• Penn State Worry Questionnaire
• Panic and Agoraphobia Scale
• Davidson Trauma Scale
• SHY-SR
• Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale
• Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) including sertraline have been found to be effective in the treatment of generalized social phobia (GSP). However, virtually all of the current treatment studies with medicines, including the SSRIs, have excluded patients with social phobia who have other co-occurring conditions. In fact, 80% of individuals suffering with primary social phobia have at least one other anxiety. This study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of sertraline in the treatment of generalized social phobia with co-occurring anxiety and mood disorders.

• Phobia, Social
• Panic Disorder
• Agoraphobia
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Anxiety Disorders
• Major Depressive Disorder

• Drug: Sertraline
  25 - 200 mg/day x 16 weeks
  Other Name: Zoloft
• Drug: Placebo
  25 - 200 mg/day x 16 weeks

• 1: Experimental
  Sertraline
  Intervention: Drug: Sertraline
• 2: Placebo Comparator
  Placebo
  Intervention: Drug: Placebo

Inclusion Criteria:

• Outpatient with primary Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) GSP plus at least one of the following comorbid DSM-IV anxiety disorders:

  • panic disorder with agoraphobia
  • obsessive compulsive disorder
  • major depressive disorder
  • generalized anxiety disorder
• Score on LSAS > 50
• Score on MADRS < 25

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any other primary AXIS-I diagnosis
• Criteria for alcohol/substance abuse/dependence
• History (Hx) of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder
• A comorbid Axis II cluster A personality disorder
• Current increased risk of concomitant suicide
• Allergy/previous intolerance during an adequate trial (50mg/day for minimum of 4 weeks) of sertraline
• Participation in any clinical trial 30 days prior to entering the study
• Unable to tolerate being free of/shows signs of withdrawal from benzodiazepines for 4 weeks
• Hx of seizures
• Thyroid problems