Individuals facing PAWS experience anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Acute withdrawal from benzodiazepine drugs can become very dangerous, to the extent that professional treatment is necessary medical detox. Certain individuals may experience withdrawal so severe that their life is in jeopardy.
In these instances, withdrawal may cause seizures or delirium tremens. Benzodiazepine overdose is another huge risk associated with the abuse of these drugs. According to the CDC, from to , two of the top 10 drugs responsible for overdose deaths were benzodiazepines.
These were alprazolam Xanax and diazepam Valium. As a central nervous system CNS depressants, benzodiazepines have the capacity to slow vital life support systems to deadly levels. Benzodiazepines are frequently abused with other drugs, commonly with alcohol and opioids, both of which are also central nervous system depressants. This combination makes benzodiazepines even more dangerous and deadly.
Signs of overdose include blue fingernails, double vision, impaired coordination, slurred speech, and slowed or stopped breathing, among others. An overdose is a medical emergency. If an overdose is suspected, contact emergency medical support services immediately. Caring for an aging parent? Tips for enjoying holiday meals. A conversation about reducing the harms of social media.
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Sign Me Up. Print This Page Click to Print. Free Healthbeat Signup Get the latest in health news delivered to your inbox! Therapy for anxiety is an effective treatment method that does not always include the use of medication. Unlike benzos or other medication for anxiety, therapy teaches people to how to recognize and manage their personal symptoms of anxiety.
One of the most commonly used therapeutic methods is cognitive behavioral therapy CBT. During CBT, an anxiety therapist teaches how to reframe negative thought patterns before debilitating anxiety symptoms have the opportunity to take hold. Anxiety therapy takes time and effort, but it is highly effective in treating anxiety disorders.
If necessary, a combination of therapy and anxiety medications may be the best approach. At The Woods Parkside near Columbus, Ohio, our treatment team is well versed in managing all types of anxiety disorders. At our addiction treatment and mental health facility , one of the goals of anxiety treatment is to understand what triggers your personal anxiety and how to manage anxiety symptoms when they present themselves.
We accomplish this through treatment in our residential or outpatient treatment programs. Additionally, the treatment team at The Woods at Parkside is able to simultaneously treat any co-occurring substance abuse disorders through dual diagnosis treatment.
To learn more about how to start your recovery you contact us online or call our admissions staff at You do not have to suffer from anxiety or substance abuse. With The Woods at Parkside, you can begin healing today. Please note: For medical emergencies, please call For other urgent matters, please call our admissions line Submissions after-hours, weekends, or holidays may experience a longer response time.
Whatever the reason for starting benzodiazepines, long-term use takes over many of the functions of the body's GABA neurotransmitter system, leaving a state of GABA underactivity when benzodiazepines are stopped, resulting in hyperexcitability of the nervous system. The dosage of a medication also affects withdrawal, but it does so in combination with the duration of treatment and half-life of the benzodiazepine involved.
Withdrawal symptoms tend to be more severe and have a quicker onset in patients taking higher doses of benzodiazepines with shorter half-lives. Longer-acting benzodiazepines, in contrast, show a slower development of withdrawal symptoms, beginning several days after discontinuation, with peak effects in about 7 days.
The most common withdrawal symptoms are restlessness, irritability, insomnia, muscle tension, weakness, aches and pains, blurred vision, and a racing heart in that order.
Rarely, after long-term use of high doses or abrupt withdrawal of a short-acting benzodiazepine, a patient may have seizures or experience hallucinations. Traditional advice for discontinuing benzodiazepines is to reduce the dosage by no more than a quarter of the usual daily dose per week, resulting in a minimum taper time from full dosage to discontinuation of 4 weeks. Benzodiazepines still have a major role in the treatment of acute anxiety symptoms and other psychiatric and medical conditions that are accompanied by anxiety.
Benzodiazepines continue to be widely used because, despite their risks and adverse effects, they work quickly, are quite safe when used properly, and have good patient tolerance. Clearly, benzodiazepine abusability and negative effects on wakefulness, attention, memory, and cognition are problems. The possibility of mild cognitive decline with long-term exposure needs further investigation. Molecular and neuronal substrate for the selective attenuation of anxiety.
American Psychiatric Association. Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with panic disorder. Are benzodiazepines still the medication of choice for patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia?
Prescriber intent, off-label usage, and early discontinuation of antidepressants: a retrospective physician survey and data analysis. Stahl SM. Don't ask, don't tell, but benzodiazepines are still the leading treatments for anxiety disorder. Updating the Beers criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults: results of a US consensus panel of experts.
Benzodiazepine use and the risk of motor vehicle crash in the elderly. Risk factors for hip fracture in white women. Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. Effect of New York State regulatory action on benzodiazepine prescribing and hip fracture rates. Chronic use of benzodiazepines and psychomotor and cognitive test performance. Practice guidelines for the treatment of patients with panic disorder. Work Group on Panic Disorder. Consensus statement on generalized anxiety disorder from the International Consensus Group on Depression and Anxiety.
Results of a naturalistic longitudinal study of benzodiazepine and SSRI use in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder and social phobia. International study of expert judgment on therapeutic use of benzodiazepines and other psychotherapeutic medications, IV: therapeutic dose dependence and abuse liability of benzodiazepines in the long-term treatment of anxiety disorder. Clinical aspects of the chronic use of alprazolam and lorazepam. Lack of relationship between long-term use of benzodiazepines and escalation to high dosages.
Long-term benzodiazepine therapy does not result in brain abnormalities. Dose- dependent decrease of activation in bilateral amygdala and insula by lorazepam during emotion processing. Long-term use of benzodiazepines in participants with comorbid anxiety and alcohol use disorders.
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