Posted by Alara on November 18, 2002, at 18:39:31
In reply to Re: Alcohol substitute - what's best?, posted by oracle on November 18, 2002, at 0:22:28
> > Um, can someone explain to me why it's easier to get alcohol than Klonopin? Um, or at least pretend to explain to me we live in a reasonable society that doesn't make it hard for mature adults to avoid alcohol with benzo treatments?
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Oracle, I am with you on this one! I have self-medicated my anxiety with alcohol for years and am only now starting to break free of my addiction. Thankfully, I found a doctor about a month ago who made the good decision to prescribe some Xanax. Being only too aware of the dangers of tolerance and addiction, I use it sparingly to promote a much needed good night's sleep (such as the night before a job interview) or to stop myself from a drinking binge after a stressful day.Alcohol is so easy to obtain that even kids can get it! (Big brother or sister needs no script.) Statistics show that one in ten people have a problem with drinking. Alcoholism is the third leading cause of death in the US.. Yet often people with common anxiety problems have no other readily available medications.
I can understand why medical authorities around the world have put strict controls on the dispensation of benzodiazapines: Benzos are widely abused and are sought after by suicidal women. (Men jump off bridges or shoot themselves; women take pills.) Sure, some control is needed. But I believe that majority of doctors have been miseducated about benzo abuse. I know somebody who died from drinking a bottle of methylated spirits after a GP refused to prescribe him something for a series of panic attacks!
Is the alcohol industry really contributing so much to the world economy at large that we want to see one in ten people develop alcohol problems after obtaining booze without a prescription? Obviously there are no clear-cut solutions but I do believe that some improvements can be made. For example, what about introducing legislation to include compulsory warnings like "Alcohol Kills" on alcohol packaging? In Australia, tobacco manufacturers must write "Smoking Kills" on all cigarette packets. And what about the idea of partial prohibition? If we, as a society, could come up with a way of making alcohol more difficult to buy, alcoholism rates would decline. Anyone have any thoughts on that one?
How about forcing pharmaceutical companies to manufacture and market benzos in smaller quantities? Measures like this could ease the minds of many GPs who are reluctant to prescribe benzos for fear of abuse. (I do not see that this would be a problem so long as scripts are not written in high-turnover medical centres.)
My last point concerns mental health education. (Sorry, I'm just venting here!) Anxiety is a very real health concern for many people and yet few of us really know what to do about it. Society encourages us to mask the symptoms by either guzzling the booze or by swallowing a few shameful pills in secret. Until now, I (as an anxiety sufferer) underestimated the value of cognitive-behavioural techniques. Thankfully I have come to my senses and (like Fred) am taking a more holistic approach to my mental health (meditation etc). This makes me far less dependent upon `medication', which is now taking a back seat in my recovery. It has taken me many years to get here because society favours the quick fix.Oracle, I have gone off on many tangents here, but I guess the answer to your question is three-tiered: Legislation - Society's Attitudes - Doctor/Patient Education.
Vent over! :-)
Alara
poster:Alara
thread:127923
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021116/msgs/128178.html