All authors contributed to the first draft of the manuscript and have approved of the final manuscript before submission. If you or a loved one is misusing benzodiazepines, treatment is available, and many formats and therapies are offered to suit your unique needs. If you are concerned that you or someone else has taken an overdose, it is very important that you seek medical help immediately. After someone takes an overdose, the effects may not become immediately obvious.
4. The How and Why of Benzodiazepine Misuse: Sources, Patterns, and Motives
She is passionate about using this knowledge to raise awareness, provide clear and accurate information, and to improve the quality of treatment for these disorders. Read on to discover more about benzodiazepines, including a list of common benzos, their therapeutic effects, as well as signs of benzodiazepine misuse, dependence, and addiction. Although benzodiazepines are commonly abused, they rarely cause serious illness or death unless combined with other drugs. A psychiatrist, however, is often asked to interview anyone seen in the emergency department before sending the person home.
THE TOLERANCE PHENOMENON
However, in the same study, 27–45% of patients experienced withdrawal symptoms even while taking propranolol 69. The control group and the experimental group had the same dropout rate in this study 69. Another study found that abrupt discontinuation and daily administration of propranolol in severely dependent patients was not a more successful treatment plan than current practice 65. Additionally, in this study, approximately 80% of patients experience withdrawal symptoms, which is much greater than the rate in other studies 65. The authors attribute this to the severity of patients’ dependence on BZD before treatment with propranolol 65.
Alcohol Addiction Therapy: Definition, Types, Benefits, Alternatives
- People may take a large amount at one time, or pair the medication with other substances such as opioids or alcohol, which can be extremely dangerous and can even lead to death.
- Patients in rehab for benzo addiction slowly taper off the drugs while receiving 24/7 monitoring.
- If doctors think you may have overdosed on purpose or are at risk of harming yourself or others, you may see a psychiatrist or addiction specialist before you leave the hospital.
- Prescription drug abuse has received more attention in recent years, yet much remains unknown about BZD abuse.
Outpatient care is reserved for people with less severe addictions or those who have already completed an inpatient stay. Individuals incorporate the coping skills they learned in residential treatment into their day-to-day lives. Benzo addiction treatment at The Recovery Village Columbus includes a full continuum of care that often begins with medical detox, then moves on to inpatient and outpatient rehab. However, the medication can also be given nasally or rectally, injected into the muscle or through an IV in some settings.
- It is important to note that physical dependence, usually defined by withdrawal symptoms including seizures, does not require the presence of clinical tolerance, and conversely tolerance may develop without any signs of physical dependence.
- We will use the terms sedatives and tranquilizers when reporting prevalence data extracted from these general population surveys.
- Benzodiazepines work by enhancing the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain.
- In this second, more difficult stage, you may need help finding housing and employment.
- We systematically reviewed epidemiological studies on benzodiazepine misuse to identify key findings, limitations, and future directions for research.
We described study findings in this manner to balance accuracy with interpretability; however, it is unknown how the inclusion of other sedatives and tranquilizers in the reviewed literature impacted results. We also chose to include studies among those with SUDs that defined benzodiazepine misuse based on urine drug screen results, as opposed to clear definitions of misuse. Although these benzodiazepine withdrawal studies suggest, or imply, that this constitutes problematic use, these studies may have included participants who were using benzodiazepines as prescribed.
1. Search Strategy and Scope of the Review
- Some studies showed an increase in the consumption of benzodiazepine while others demonstrated a decrease in the prescription refills of benzodiazepine, which may be a result of gaps in mental health care.
- This is consistent with findings that regulating negative affective and somatic states is the most common motive for benzodiazepine misuse.
- Future research is warranted for further exploration into alternative methods of treating BZD withdrawal.
- Benzodiazepines can also be obtained from people who are not drug dealers – friends, a friend of a friend, coworkers, or family members may share or sell their pills.
The dose of BZD given also positively correlated with increased risk of Sober living house an overdose death 50. Still, due to the severe potential for dependence and deadly withdrawal sequelae, guidelines for recommended use are no longer than a few weeks. Despite this, numerous studies report usage extending for months into years or even decades in many users 9. Additionally, according to several studies, BZD use increases with age, with long-term usage most prevalent in the 65 and older population 16.
