Tranquilizers
Normally prescribed to induce sleep, BARBITUATES are a sedative drug, almost disapearred from the scene now.
Dangerous?
Yes siree! Easy to O.D. and addictive. BARBS produce tolerance, so you need to take more to get the same effect, and the withdrawl is real bad and can be life threatening. No buzz with these, just blankness.
In the 1970′s, approximately 200 people per year died as a result of taking BARBITUATES. Abrupt withdrawel from barbs can be fatal.
Benzodiazephines
So what with all those people dying and that, the drugs companies came up with a new tranquillizer.
Bring on the BENZODIAZEPINES.
Used in two ways, to help induce sleep as a sedative (hypnotic) or to reduce anxiety (anxiolytic), these were marketed as safe, non-habit forming and with no side effects. Uh-huh, with Benzo’s being dished out by the doc freely it was soon clear this wasn’t true. These drugs are addictive, and the side-effects and withdrawal symptoms can mirror reasons they were taking it for in the first place.
Cruel eh. Feel bad, anxious, paranoid, can’t sleep? Hey, take some benzos, become dependent and start to feel, that’s right folks…bad, anxious, and paranoid. Millions of people are prescribed benzos, 10′s of thousands are probably dependent. After approximately three months the drugs become inaffective, but users carry on taking them to ward off the withdrawal. This ain’t good.
Using tranx to come down off something else? If this becomes a regular thing, you’re gonna bring trouble to your house.
The short term of Benzodiazepines to help people who are in crisis and suffering from great anxiety can be extremely beneficial, enabling a person to cope in the short time.However this should be accompanied by some form of support, counselling or therapy, addressing the cause of the problem, not just tracking the symptoms.
Long term prescription with no other support is not the answer.