"How misuse of benzodiazepines, a common class of anti-anxiety medication,..."

[[La...]]

This article appeared in the Globe and Mail, one of Canada's national newspapers, on February 13, 2020:

 

"How misuse of benzodiazepines, a common class of anti-anxiety medication, can lead to dependency"

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-how-misuse-of-benzodiazepines-a-common-class-of-anti-anxiety/

 

I hate the title, and I'm guessing I won't be alone in that. Despite there being some good information in the article itself, the title is highly misleading. Unfortunate.

 

 

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It will ALWAYS be that there is something wrong with the patient... not the drug.  Always has been... Always will be.

 

Alessi-Severini said a paradoxical reaction is very rare, occurring in certain individuals who may be more susceptible, such as those who have experienced brain trauma or an underlying neurological condition.

 

It can be difficult to tease apart whether an individual’s symptoms arise from their withdrawal of the medication, from the condition it was intended to treat or from another underlying or co-morbid disorder, she said. Moreover, individuals can react differently.

 

“Unfortunately, with almost all drugs, there are rare reactions that some individuals, for some reason, can experience,” she said.

 

 

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I don't like how they gave the time frame of use as 2 weeks to 2 MONTHS!! I was thinking the average person reading this article would think 2 months is ok to reach, when many of us know that window when physiological dependence occurs can be way sooner than that! As well, they downplay the harm Benzos do compared to alcohol in terms of impact and cost to society, yet they have no real 'data' about the number of people tapering themselves off Benzos on their own without any physician assistance, or those whose lives have been affected (loss of jobs, suicide, disability etc.) because there is no 'source' yet collecting such information.  At the end of the article, it mentions Benzos in regards to their role in opioid related deaths. Again, another case  where 'Benzos' are lumped onto another drug, rather than having the legs to stand on their own as an independent, capable of so much suffering and devastation. 

[[Te...]]

I'm getting sick of reading about the "abuse" of these drugs. How many times have we read that? Out of all the people taking these drugs, the majority are NOT abusing them but simply following directions from their doctor.

 

"But it is well known that individuals can develop a tolerance to the drugs, and that these medications are prone to abuse," she said.

 

The words "abuse" and "addiction" are simply denial words, IMO, attempting to put the onus on the patient rather than blaming the medical community for their refusal to find out up-to-date information on the damage these drugs can do, and sometimes for a very long period of time, YEARS, losing all semblance of their former lives. They refuse to give informed consent. Usually a patient is trusting what the doctor says. SHAME on the doctors for either being clueless or knowing the harm these drugs can cause yet remaining quiet because that's all they have available in their arsenal. 

 

[[La...]]

Has anyone checked out the comments? Some very good dialogue there, although the use of the word "addiction" is liberally thrown around without anyone seeming to really understand the difference between it and "physiological dependency".

 

I so wish this journalist would have taken the time to inform herself better before writing this article. Badly done.