Risks of Benzodiazepines
Anxiety disorders affect more than 40 million Americans each year.
In fact, anxiety is the second most commonly diagnosed mental illness following only depression.
In order to treat so many cases of a disease that can wreak havoc on a person's life, a common course of action is to prescribe benzodiazepines.
This article looks at some of the risks of long term benzodiazepine use for the purpose of treating anxiety disorders.
The reason that I am so familiar with benzos is because for more than ten years I took a one of these medications every day.
In the end I had to be medically detoxed off of the medication as it was unsafe (and impossible) for me to simply stop taking them.
Therefore, I wanted to bring up a couple of the main risks of this class of medication.
They are habit forming Very few people think that gaining an addiction is preferable to having anxiety.
Unfortunately, in many cases, a person ends up with both an anxiety disorder and a dependency to benzos.
Benzodiazepines are, in fact, one of the most abused types of medication due to the effects that they have on the body.
As one uses them with regularity the body adjusts and then the person needs to take them just to be able to function.
They are not for chronic anxiety Benzodiazepines such as Klonopin or Valium are effective in controlling acute, intense anxiety.
However, for anxiety episodes that are ongoing they are not suitable.
A person with a generalized anxiety disorder will only receive relief for the first several months that they are taking the medication, then they will have to increase the dose to receive the same effects.
Benzodizepines have a potent withdrawal syndrome associated with them If you decide that you do not want to take benzos anymore you might need to medically detox off of them to ensure that you do not have a seizure.
The problem is that even once you are off of the medication you will experience powerful withdrawal effects that can last many months, and sometimes even years.
These are just some of the risks inherent in taking benzodiazepines for anxiety.
The good news is that there are a number of effective therapies that do not require their use.
In fact, anxiety is the second most commonly diagnosed mental illness following only depression.
In order to treat so many cases of a disease that can wreak havoc on a person's life, a common course of action is to prescribe benzodiazepines.
This article looks at some of the risks of long term benzodiazepine use for the purpose of treating anxiety disorders.
The reason that I am so familiar with benzos is because for more than ten years I took a one of these medications every day.
In the end I had to be medically detoxed off of the medication as it was unsafe (and impossible) for me to simply stop taking them.
Therefore, I wanted to bring up a couple of the main risks of this class of medication.
They are habit forming Very few people think that gaining an addiction is preferable to having anxiety.
Unfortunately, in many cases, a person ends up with both an anxiety disorder and a dependency to benzos.
Benzodiazepines are, in fact, one of the most abused types of medication due to the effects that they have on the body.
As one uses them with regularity the body adjusts and then the person needs to take them just to be able to function.
They are not for chronic anxiety Benzodiazepines such as Klonopin or Valium are effective in controlling acute, intense anxiety.
However, for anxiety episodes that are ongoing they are not suitable.
A person with a generalized anxiety disorder will only receive relief for the first several months that they are taking the medication, then they will have to increase the dose to receive the same effects.
Benzodizepines have a potent withdrawal syndrome associated with them If you decide that you do not want to take benzos anymore you might need to medically detox off of them to ensure that you do not have a seizure.
The problem is that even once you are off of the medication you will experience powerful withdrawal effects that can last many months, and sometimes even years.
These are just some of the risks inherent in taking benzodiazepines for anxiety.
The good news is that there are a number of effective therapies that do not require their use.
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