Living with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) often means more than the occasional bout of worry — it's persistent, hard to control, and can interfere with daily life even when nothing is obviously "wrong." If standard treatments like therapy or medication haven't given you the relief you're looking for, a clinical trial may be worth exploring.
What Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
GAD is a chronic anxiety disorder marked by excessive, ongoing worry about a wide range of everyday things — work, health, relationships, finances — that's difficult to control and often out of proportion to the actual situation. It can come with physical symptoms too: muscle tension, restlessness, fatigue, trouble concentrating, and disrupted sleep.
Standard treatment usually involves a combination of therapy (often cognitive behavioral therapy) and medication, such as SSRIs or SNRIs. These approaches help many people, but not everyone finds full relief, and some medications take weeks to have an effect or come with side effects that are hard to tolerate.
Why Consider a Clinical Trial?
Clinical trials test new approaches to treatment under close medical supervision, following a protocol reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to protect participants. For anxiety specifically, researchers are exploring treatments that work differently than traditional daily medications — including options designed to work faster or with a different dosing approach altogether.
One example is a study currently enrolling at Inner Space Research, evaluating whether a single dose of an investigational treatment (RE104) can reduce anxiety symptoms in adults with GAD, compared to placebo. This kind of research matters because it could open the door to treatment options that don't require the daily commitment many current medications do.
What Screening Looks Like
If you're interested in participating, the process typically starts with a conversation — either by phone or in person — where a study coordinator asks about your anxiety symptoms, treatment history, and general health. If you seem like a good fit, you'll come in for a more complete evaluation, which may include:
- A structured interview to confirm a GAD diagnosis and assess symptom severity.
- A review of current and past medications or therapies you've tried.
- A basic physical exam and lab work to confirm you're medically eligible.
This process exists to make sure the study is actually a good fit for you — not just to fill enrollment numbers.
What Participating Involves
Once enrolled, you'll follow the visit schedule set out in the study protocol. This generally includes:
- Regular visits with the study team to monitor how you're doing and check for any side effects.
- Symptom rating scales completed at set intervals to track your anxiety levels over time.
- Safety monitoring throughout the study, since participant wellbeing is the top priority.
Depending on the specific trial, you may receive the investigational treatment or a placebo — this comparison is what allows researchers to determine whether the treatment actually works, separate from other factors like time or attention from the care team.
What You Get From Participating
Beyond the potential of symptom relief, participants typically receive study-related care at no cost, along with more frequent check-ins than many people get through routine care. You're also contributing directly to research that could shape future anxiety treatments for others.
Could You Be a Candidate?
If you're an adult in the Orem, Utah area living with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and looking for options beyond what you've already tried, you may qualify for our current GAD study evaluating a single dose of RE104. Reaching out is simply a conversation — there's no obligation, and our team is happy to answer your questions.