Ashton On Video

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I would encourage everyone to visit our webpages, and watch these videos Of Professor Ashton speaking about benzodiazepines. These are excerpts taken from the April 4, 2006 lecture that Professor Ashton gave to healthcare providers in Vancouver.

 

 

Dr. Heather Ashton on Benzodiazepines - Overview

 

Dr. Heather Ashton - Benzodiazepine Withdrawal

 

Dr. Heather Ashton - How to Taper Off Benzodiazepines

 

 

 

 

[Guest [...]]

Hi,

I was just thinking that sending that first link to all government office holders in our countries would be a good  attention getter. Most public office holders are too busy to give time to a new subject. So just the introduction would sneak into their minds  more easily. If one politician brushes it off, another one may just take a look. If the subject takes off, the ones who ignored the subject will be  .

Jana

[Guest [He...]]

Hi!

 

I just got emails and thanks for these YouTube links.

Here in Finland the parliament elections are right now over and the political situation is very different from now on.

I am very disappointed. 

 

Take care,

 

Heikki 

 

[[Co...]]

Hi Jana,

 

Whilst I have some sympathy for your position, I have to largely disagree with you. Yes, Professor Ashton cannot understand what we've been through - how could she unless she's been through it herself - but what you see as her 'minimizing both the initial symptoms and then the difficulty of the taper process', I see more as her being optimistic about the outcome. I think Prof. Ashton is a champion for the cause, and invaluable in this regard. I believe that we should have full information when we are prescribed meds, so if course I believe that we should be open about how tough it can be to quit benzodiazepines, for some! It should be remembered, that those who can quit without too many problems, are very unlikely to seek us out. Our membership is self-selecting towards the less fortunate end of the spectrum. However I do try to take an optimistic outlook myself, as I believe it can help. Not all those coming here will have a tough time quitting, but some certainly will. These two things - being open, and optimistic at the same time - can be tricky to balance.

 

Professor Ashton is very open about how the clinic also offered psychological support to the patients - this must have been a great advantage over most of our members, who, if they are lucky, have sympathetic doctor, but are very unlikely to have structured support for their withdrawal. Undoubtedly her patients benefited from this, and so did the outcome of the program as a whole.

[Guest [...]]

I can agree with the skewing of the population we know and try to serve. I can say that there's little reason to expect the worst  and there's good reason to expect success especially with willingness to make adjustments. The difference here seems to be in how many we think may be in what group.

 

Those here who have a rough time do see that others  do well. It's the crap shoot again and I'd like Ashton to acknowledge the crap shoot.

 

Disdain for people who can't jump from 0.5mg Valium isn't appropriate. Characterizing the extending of a taper as prolonging an addiction is not appropriate. Disdain, itself, isn't appropriate. 

 

It's vital to hear Ashton. I mention that a lot. I also say that she provides a beginning and that we must find our own proper paths. Public officials should listen to Ashton. They also need to listen to those with different experiences before deciding policy. Right now, all that we have is that one position to speak for us. Ashton can cite numbers that tell government how many workdays were lost last year. The personal tragedies are silent. These tragedies have faces. those faces are still denied. There is usually more way to do anything, and I see this being denied.

Jana

 

[Guest [He...]]

1000 of thanks! 

This is it.

I'll forward send  immediately.

It's so popular nowadays to watch these YouTubes that I think it's just OK to email these to people, too!

Perhaps they'll now get a clue of what's happening.

 

Love,

 

Heikki 

[Guest [...]]

Hi All,

The Ashton video is a good attention-getter, but we can't rely on Ashton. She  lets people know hat there's a problem for society, but she has little concept of what the victim goes through. She minimizes both the initial symptoms and then the difficulty of the taper process.

 

Ashton hasn't been where we have been. She has minimized the illness. She only ran an outpatient clinic and ordered one rigid kind of taper. Her outcomes don't reflect the numbers of people who found her method too harsh and too illness promoting. No single method is good for the whole benzo population. Ashton would have people believe that her's is.

 

She ridicules people who can't jump off at 0.5mg Valium.  That number makes sense only if the regular cuts have been 0.5mg. For most of us, a lesser cut is necessary at the end. It doesn't make sense to jump from 0.5mg when the usual cuts were 0.2mg. Ashton does not mention titration or the many adjustments that are part of a successful taper. She doesn't low as much about the process as we do.

 

So any additional videos and communications from people more in tune reality are needed. It would be good to assemble  a single video offering real-life conclusions from more currently experienced people. Forty rear old observations aren't too impressive. Observations from the outside  can never tell the story.

Jana