Notice to International Readers

Content on this site reflects a United States editorial perspective. Regulatory references default to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Clinical practice guidelines we cite include the American Psychiatric Association and, where relevant for international synthesis, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and World Health Organization (WHO). Public-health statistics on the site are primarily drawn from US federal datasets, including CDC BRFSS, SAMHSA NSDUH, and HRSA.

Drug approvals, indications, dosing ranges, and boxed warnings can differ between countries. A medication that is FDA-approved for an anxiety disorder in the United States may not be approved for the same indication, available in the same formulation, or carry the same regulatory warnings in another country, and vice versa. Pregabalin, for example, is approved for generalized anxiety disorder in much of Europe but is not FDA-approved for that indication in the United States. Always check your country's regulatory authority for current labeling.

How mental health care is organized, who can prescribe, what insurance covers, what telepsychiatry rules apply, and how shortage areas are mapped differ substantially across countries. Pages on this site that describe the US care system, US workforce shortages (HRSA HPSA designations), or US-specific telepsychiatry rules (Ryan Haight Act, DEA controlled-substance prescribing rules, state licensure) are not portable to other countries.

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a US-only service. International readers in a mental health crisis should use a locally appropriate resource. Two starting points:

• Find A Helpline: international directory of crisis lines by country
• International Association for Suicide Prevention crisis centre directory

For immediate danger, use the emergency number for your country.

Use of this site is governed by the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy, which are written under United States law. Readers in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions with their own data-protection regimes should review the Privacy Policy for the contact route for data requests.

Wherever you live, the site is an educational and research publication, not a clinical practice. Nothing on the site substitutes for advice from a clinician licensed in your jurisdiction. See the Medical Disclaimer.