Posted by Elizabeth on June 15, 2001, at 17:21:22
In reply to Gil, Cam, Eliz...... everyone..., posted by grapebubblegum on June 15, 2001, at 9:44:57
> Elizabeth, interpret no implications in my "stuff like Valium" phrasing... I just don't know benzos from shinola, that's why I ask Cam these things. I have no prejudice against or for any of them except we all know that Valium has been the scapegoat of drug stigma for decades... am I right? I grew up in the seventies and eighties and Valium was the household word when wanting to describe someone as being addicted.
I rememeber very little of the '70s (not from too much Valium, but just because I was quite young!), but Valium does have a reputation for being one of the more abusable benzos. It's rapidly taken up into the CNS and then redistributed throughout the body, so it acts rapidly but briefly. Some people find it pleasurable, weird as this seems. I've taken it a couple times and didn't find it particularly exciting. It's also not as good an anxiolytic as the high-potency benzos (Klonopin, Xanax, Ativan), IMO.
> Lots of stigmas out there. I told you guys that my sister is an R.N. and she admits that whenever she hears "psychoactive meds" a prejudice closes right down over her brain.
Gosh. "Psychoactive meds" like imipramine, propranolol,
Well, I guess it's a good start that she recognises it as a prejudice.> I asked her why and she said, "Because we see so many people checking in to the hospital who are addicted." I want to say, "But----" but her mind is already closed.
That is a shame. I think that a lot of doctors who specialise in addictions also tend to be against prescribing benzos, opioids, etc., even when they're clearly indicated.
poster:Elizabeth
thread:65795
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010612/msgs/66595.html