Posted by halcyondaze on February 23, 2007, at 20:25:41
In reply to Wow watch this youtube interview about Xanax, posted by rjlockhart on February 23, 2007, at 15:08:08
I don't think that she qualified as "addicted" - that is characterized by drug-seeking behavior and dose escalations without the physician's approval, taking great measures to obtain the drug of choice, etc. She was physically dependent on Xanax, which is different.
It is not possible to be "addicted" to antidepressants [exceptions in literature: Parnate and Amentapine] or antipsychotics. Withdrawal is not addiction. If I stopped my beta blocker, I would experience withdrawal effects. This is NOT addiction.
Please note: My experience with Xanax was that it is a profoundly psychologically and physically addicting drug. I was truly addicted to it. It was not prescribed and I was up to 15 mg/day, all purchased on the street or obtained through other means.
THAT BEING SAID, I went through a severe traumatic experience a month ago, took 0.25 to .5 mg for anxiety only, and had a totally different experience with it. It was very helpful in the short term and when not used to get high.
However, I still believe that Xanax can be a very dangerous drug - it is highly abused on the street, has a lot of street value, and is more profoundly euphoric (in my experience and the general experience of drug users and psychiatrists) than any other benzo.
I am not anti-benzo at all. I am just pro-careful prescribing and monitoring. Just like I wouldn't deprive a chronic pain patient of painkillers, I wouldn't deprive a severely anxious patient of benzodiazepines if they were indicated. However, I would be sure to watch out for signs of abuse in both cases because, in my opinion, both are highly addictive drugs that can be prescribed wrongly but that have a legitiate place in medicine.
poster:halcyondaze
thread:735434
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070219/msgs/735518.html