Posted by Jane on December 4, 1999, at 11:51:45
In reply to Re: social anxiety - benzos - to Rick, posted by Elizabeth on December 4, 1999, at 9:10:23
> The above is your opinion -- what you base it on is not clear. But here's a fact: anxiety patients almost never abuse prescribed benzodiazepines.
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i'm basing it on reading scientific literature that you can pull off medline (not the abstracts but the entire articles). in the introductory remarks that follows the abstract, and also in the discussion section many times you will find the researcher state the reason why physicians continue to look for alternatives to benzos is the fact that inherently there is a potential for addiction and withdrawal syndrome. the very fact that benzos are a schedule IV and therefore a controlled substance comes from clinical studies that FDA decided to warrant such restrictions.some here seems to feel very vehement about defending benzos - i dont think benzos should *not* be first line given the right circumstance, ie the doctor does not believe the patient is a potential substance abuser or have family history of such (they also don't want to be liable) - i think that all medications *including* benzos are effective given the right patient type. the problem arises when doctors who do not spend the time for each patient to carefully assess the situation indiscriminantly prescribe benzos for every anxious patient they see because its generic and cheap and also out of habit.
jane
poster:Jane
thread:15816
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991123/msgs/16192.html