The
Trouble with Tranqs
There's
a whole group of drugs out there called benzodiazepines.They
are tranquillisers, or sedatives. They include such well-known
names as:
Valium (diazepam),
Ativan (lorazepam),
Librium (chlordiazepoxide),
Tranxene (clorazepate),
Paxipam (halazepam),
Centrax or Verstran (prazepam),
Klonopin (clonazepam),
Dalmane (flurazepam),
Serax (oxazepam),
Restoril (temazepam),
Xanax (alprazolam),
and Halcion (triazolam).
Drugs like Librium and Valium
have been around for a while, others such as Xanax
are relative newcomers. Interestingly, whenever it appears,
the newcomer is always hailed as a wonder drug as it becomes
available for prescrption, until, 10 or 20 years later, the
problems start to appear with those who were the first to
be 'saved' from their pain by this miracle of pharmacological
engineering.
But
when the mind is filled with anxious thoughts; the world is
a scary place; and coping is a dream so far away it's just
a fantasy, these wonderful drugs are a lifeline to be grabbed
with all of our might and they can indeed create a window
of respite, a breather, a little calm that allows the troubled
mind to struggle on and cope in a lesser version of Hell than
without the drugs.
Peter
Breggin, in Toxic Psychiatry, writes of 100,000,000 prescriptions
a year, in the US alone, for benzodiazepines, at a conservative
estimate costing $500,000,000. They are clearly popular with
doctors, but considering the long-term detrimental effects,
and the ease with which short-term use can turn to addiction
I am puzzled as to why they seem to be the first response
to people who are clearly lost in their own minds and most
of whom just need re-assurance first, with direction, support,
and guidance following on.
These
drugs have a clinically similar effect to alcohol on the central
nervous system, and long term use can have quite a severe
impact on brain tissue, in much the way alcohol does. But
the real problem with these drugs is their addictiveness,
and the difficulty in stopping taking them after even a relatively
short period of use. Some of these distressing withdrawal
symptoms that may be experienced are: anger, anxiety, bowel
changes, lack of concentration, emotional disturbance, depression,
coordination difficulties, vertigo, sensitivity to light,
head pressure, muscle and joint pain, numbness, paranoia,
agitation, shaking, insomnia, and feelings of unreality or
dissociation.
So
what's the alternative?
The
alternative is not a bigger, better, more modern, more focused
drug. The alternative is the realisation by the medical world,
and by sufferers from anxiety, that these drugs don't change
anything. They just disconnect you from it. Whatever it is
that's causing the anxiety, it's still there when the drug
is eventually stopped. Postponing facing up to it for 3 months,
a year, 10 years, 20 years… still leaves the problem
sitting there, and it will wait for as long as is necessary
because it is a part of the mind, a part of the belief system,
a part of the upbringing, a part of the self. All the drugs
do is numb the mind, wrap it in cotton wool so thinking is
fuzzier, but they leave the problem sitting there waiting
for the day the drug is removed. There is simply no escape
through drugs.
The
trouble is we've all become so used to the idea of the easy
option, the effortless solution - magic is what we want. What
we don't want is to have to look at what we don't want to
look at because every time we look we get the anxiety response
that we're trying to escape from in the first place.
There
is only one solution.
That
solution is for the sufferer to decide that they are going
to be free of the problem, and that their life is no longer
going to be controlled by their anxiety.
Without
a commitment at that level, nothing will work long-term.
Once
that commitment is made, then it is up to the sufferer to
allow themselves to be guided (by what feels right to them)
towards the help and assistance they require. This may be
therapy in one of its many forms, counselling, cognitive therapy,
psychotherapy, Gestalt, behavioural therapy, hypnotherapy…;
or the avid reading of self-help books that appeal, attending
therapy/self-help groups, attending workshops, visiting a
spiritual healer…
What
is important is that the sufferer feels heard and honoured
and supported, not so much what the flavour of the month is
in therapy. They all work. They all have an impact, as long
as the match between the sufferer's mind, the style of therapy,
and the personality of the therapist/facilitator, are a comfortable
fit.
There
is no suggestion here that anyone taking tranquillisers should
stop taking them without consulting their physician.
Many of these drugs require a gradual reduction in dose -
a weaning, because of the effects they have on the brain.
Sudden removal can produce worse or similar symptoms to those
that the drug was being prescribed for in the first place.
What
I am suggesting is that alternatives are seriously considered,
and that it is possible to lead a life free of the need of
the tranquillising crutch that prevents the sufferer from
ever experiencing the fullness and wonder of self in all it's
creative and successful glory.
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