The Female Subject in Psychiatry From Pathology to Prozac
In this piece for The New Inquiry, Sophie Putka chronicles the mental health profession's long history of pathologizing, diagnosing, and medicating women's emotions.
"With Freudâs claims...
Benzodiazepines Associated With 3.5x Greater Dementia Risk
Researchers in the U.K. find in a 22-year prospective study of 1134 men, 103 of whom took benzodiazepines regularly for one or more period...
What Happens to Your Brain When you Take Xanax
In this video from Business Insider, psychopharmacologist and psychiatrist Dr. Samoon Ahmad explains the impact of Xanax on the brain and discusses some of...
Life Sentence: Life Behind the Bars of the Mental Health System
The minute you sit down in the chair in a mental health professional's office, youâre no longer seen as a person. The mental health system is incapable of seeing past the solid wall of your current label. Their only cure is drugs. "First Do No Harm" are powerful words. Itâs unfortunate they donât apply to psychiatry.
Benzos in 30% of NYC’s Overdose Deaths; ER Visits Soar
The NYC Department of Health reports that 30% of the city's 2009 overdose deaths were tied to benzodiazepines, and that benzo-related emergency room visits...
How Many Pills are too Many?
From The New York Times: Overprescription is becoming an increasingly prevalent public health issue, especially for older adults with multiple chronic conditions.
"Though studies have found...
New Video For World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day
In a new video for World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day (W-BAD) people from all over the world share about the iatrogenic harm they sustained from taking...
Nevada Legislation Aims to Curb Psychotropics in Foster Children
A touching article in the Las Vegas Sun follows one child from abandonment through foster placements, polypharmacy, suicidality, delinquency and homelessness to stability off...
A Quiet Drug Problem Among the Elderly
From The New York Times: Use of benzodiazepines has risen among seniors despite their increased vulnerability to the drugs' adverse effects.
"'Set aside the opioid issue,'...
“My Road to Hell was Paved with Xanax”
-Ashley Zlatopolsky writes about how receiving a benzodiazepine for anxiety led to a severe, problematic addiction.
Weaning the Elderly off Sleeping Pills
In a follow-up to an earlier commentary on the topic, Paula Span discusses the widespread use and negative effects of sleeping pills among the...
Benzodiazepines: How They Work and How to Withdraw
Protocol for the Treatment of Benzodiazepine Withdrawal, written by Dr. C. Heather Ashton ("The Ashton Manual"), published and available free of charge on Benzo.org.
This...
Latest World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day (W-BAD) Video
âWe asked people from all over the world to share about the iatrogenic injury they sustained from taking benzodiazepines as prescribed and why they...
Anxiety Medication Associated With Significant Increase in Mortality Long-Term
A study of data from over 11 million patient records in the General Practice Research Database, "the largest anonymized, longitudinal primary care database in...
Antipsychotics Rise in Youth, But Hospitalization Rates Stay the Same
Researchers from Tufts and Harvard find in a review of 233 medical charts of psychiatrically hospitalized youth at three points in time (1991, 1998...
Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Syndrome Awareness Video
Members of the group Benzodiazepine Recovery have created a video to raise awareness for benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. It is estimated that 30 percent of people...
âStudy Reveals Benzodiazepines Frequently Prescribed to High-Risk Patientsâ
A new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that benzodiazepines are prescribed at high doses to patients at a high rate...
World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day: Official Launch
World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day has just launched its official website, w-bad.org. The new site includes useful information about benzodiazepines, ideas for taking action, and video...
Benzodiazepines: Our Other Prescription Drug Epidemic
From STAT: Although benzodiazepines are some of the most commonly prescribed psychiatric medications in the U.S., few people realize how dangerous and addictive these drugs can be.
"Highly...
Antidepressants Associated With Increased Driving Risk
Researchers from the Taiwan and the United States find through a study of 5,183 subjects with motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and 31,093 matched controls...
Prescription Drugs in Great Lakes Don’t Dilute as Expected
Concentrations of pharmaceuticals in Lake Michigan are undiluted two miles from treated sewage outfalls, according to research published in Chemosphere. Research has linked pharmaceuticals...
Vegas Shooter was Reportedly Prescribed Anti-Anxiety Meds
From the New York Post: Mass murderer Stephen Paddock was reportedly prescribed anti-anxiety medication this past summer. The gunman purchased 50 10-milligram tablets of Valium...
RxISK Adds Prescription Withdrawal Resource
This week the drug monitoring and patients' rights website, RxISK, launched the Centre for Medication Withdrawal, a page dedicated to establishing what causes dependence and how to treat it.
Benzodiazepine Use of 50% of Elderly Patients is Not Monitored
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) publication Psychiatric News has released an article about the recent British Medical Journal study finding strong links between long-term...
