Trials of adjunctive alprazolam in 'negative symptom' patients

Four case reports are described in which adjunctive alprazolam was administered to schizophrenic or schizoaffective patients who satisfied criteria for the syndrome of 'negative symptoms'. The addition of alprazolam to ongoing neuroleptic and antiparkinsonian drug treatment produced substantial clinical benefit in only one of these cases, and that benefit was not replicated in a second trial in this case. These results are discussed in comparison to previously reported findings in other alprazolam-treated 'negative symptom' patients.