Posted by sowhysosad on April 17, 2009, at 17:02:18
In reply to Re: how to get rivotril off label on the NHS, posted by metric on April 17, 2009, at 15:38:30
> I've never understood why such a fuss is made over benzodiazepine dependency. Almost any drug is capable of inducing some form of physical dependency if taken for long enough; benzos are hardly unique in that respect.
Supposedly the withdrawal and rebound effects of benzos can be particularly unpleasant compared to other psych drugs and it's easy to quickly build tolerance but, you're right, it does seem to be a storm in a teacup.
> Also, benzodiazepines are the only anxiolytics that are prescribed. SSRIs are not useful as anxiolytics, not least because they increase anxiety (not exactly characteristic of an anxiolytic), but because they have so many other side-effects. Benzodiazepines are the safest drugs used in psychiatry, if not all of medicine.
I'm not so sure about that. Many people find SSRI's helpful for anxiety (albeit after some initial start-up anxiety perhaps), and sedating tricyclics and tetracyclics can be good for anxiety too.
poster:sowhysosad
thread:891097
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090416/msgs/891268.html