Spa Therapy, Tested Against Medication for Anxiety

This French trial recruited 237 people diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder across four spa resorts and randomly assigned them either to three weeks of balneotherapy, meaning treatments based on thermal mineral water, or to the antidepressant paroxetine, tracking anxiety over eight weeks. The spa therapy group showed greater improvement on a standard anxiety rating scale than those taking the medication, in a group that was predominantly women. Because bathing treatments cannot be disguised, the trial could not be blinded, so some of the effect may reflect the experience and expectation of a spa stay as much as the water itself. It stands as the first controlled trial to compare spa therapy directly with an established anxiety drug. For a woman who would prefer not to rely on medication for anxiety, it offers early evidence that a structured spa programme is worth discussing with her doctor as one option.