Tag: Benzodiazepine

Peter Simons covers news on mental health app Cerebral and pharma companies Biogen and Cassava; how social media influencers are the new pharma marketers; studies that found antidepressants don't improve quality of life and are harmful to the fetus when pregnant women take them; benzo withdrawal; and more!

We interview Renee Schuls-Jacobson about her book Psychiatrized: Waking up After a Decade of Bad Medicine which details Renee's experiences being prescribed the benzodiazepine clonazepam (Klonopin) for seven years.

Research finds that social cognition and emotional processing abilities can be disrupted by psychiatric drugs.

The FDA has finally acknowledged the adverse effects of benzodiazepines, the dangers of withdrawal, and that the current packaging does not sufficiently warn of these harms.

This week on MIA Radio, we present the second part of our podcast to join in the events for World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day 2020...

An interview with Angela Peacock who talks of her experiences of being prescribed benzodiazepines, her journey off multiple medications, her continuing work in veterans advocacy and her thoughts about the film Medicating Normal which will be screened on World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day, July 11.

A special set of interviews for W-BAD 2019. We speak with Project Manager for W-BAD Rocks of Kindness, Janelle. We also chat with physician and Director of the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition Christy Huff MD and we hear from Stephen Wright MD, addiction specialist and medical consultant to the Alliance for Benzodiazepine Best Practices.

Benzodiazepine prescription practices may be in response to an epidemic of distress, rather than being used to treat specific mental health diagnoses.

White race and size of initial prescription, along with poor sleep quality, are associated with long-term benzodiazepine use in older adults.

From NBC News: "Prescriptions have increased more than 60 percent in the last two decades and overdose deaths involving them have more than quadrupled...

A special two-part interview to join in with events for World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day 2018. We hear from W-BAD Lead Operations Volunteer Nicole Lamberson, psychiatrist Dr Josef Witt-Doerring, therapist and campaigner Chris Paige and Mad in America founder Robert Whitaker.

Although opioid addiction and overuse have garnered significant national attention, similar trends in benzodiazepine overprescription and overuse continue to go unnoticed.

Long-term benzodiazepine use shown to effect cognitive function during current use and for years after drug discontinuation.

The researchers found that, of those who were initially prescribed both antidepressants and benzodiazepines, approximately 12% went on to engage in long-term benzodiazepine use.

Benzodiazepine Awareness seeks to raise global awareness of iatrogenic benzodiazepine dependence, the dangers of its adverse effects and the associated withdrawal syndrome, which can last for years.

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...

In this video from Business Insider, psychopharmacologist and psychiatrist Dr. Samoon Ahmad explains the impact of Xanax on the brain and discusses some of...

A new study reported on in Medscape, examined risk factors for misuse of benzodiazepines (drugs such as Xanax, Ativan, and Klonopin). The researchers found that patients who had been prescribed the medication on an as-needed basis were more likely to end up abusing it than those who had been prescribed a standing dose.

Beginning with the glamorization of Miltown in the 1950’s, the “I don’t care” pill was a way to ease the growing awareness that the world is indeed unsafe, and that something is deeply bankrupt in the promises of burgeoning science, technology, and industrialization. Still, we sought to heal these wounds through application of more of the same mentality – one of dominance, management, and suppression of all obstacles into submission. As our bodies, minds, and spirits become more and more separated from nature, each other, and ourselves, the worry, discomfort, and unease mount. Now that the going has gotten very tough, we are reaching for medications more than ever. Surely, however, turning off the smoke alarm is not the best way to deal with a fire.

“In a bid to raise awareness towards the global epidemic of abuse on Benzodiazepine or ‘benzos’ abuse, a global campaign dubbed as World Benzo Awareness...

Today, organizers have released a statement announcing a "World Benzo Awareness Day" to take place on Monday, 11th July 2016. "This day has been made...

As the benzodiazepine crisis spreads throughout the United States and other parts of the world, so does the debate within the benzo victim/survivor community. We know that it can be terribly invalidating to label and treat a person as a “drug addict” who is only physically dependent on benzos — and taking these drugs exactly as prescribed by a doctor. However, it can be equally invalidating to deny that “iatrogenic benzo dependence” intersects in multiple ways in the lives of people struggling with “addiction.” People will ALSO SUFFER when yanked off of their benzos, or forced into similar rapid tapers when a doctor becomes aware of their addiction history. 

Anxiety is an awful reality. You feel a horrible paralyzing fear in the core of your chest or stomach, spreading to your arms and legs. The uneasiness gnaws away at you, or spreads into an overwhelming panic. It is paralyzing, and relief can’t come soon enough. However, the myth that anxiety is a biological disease is false. The reason there is no evidence that human problems come from neurotransmitters and genetic defects is because it’s not true.

Massachusetts Bill HD 4554 needs to gain sufficient state representative support by Tuesday, March 1, 2016. This bill will put restrictions on the prescribing of benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepine sleep aids, and will require that all patients be informed of the potential dangers of these drugs, specifically the dangers of long-term use.

Mad In America contributor and prescription drug addiction reformer Barry Haslam has “taken his fight to the world stage by helping create an international...