Posted by hiba on August 20, 2002, at 1:54:20
In reply to Re: To...Addiction vs. Medical dependence » alan, posted by Squiggles on August 19, 2002, at 16:54:32
"On the other hand I sympathize with your point
that benzos are definitely necessary for acute
anxiety, epilepsy, general anxiety of unknown
source, phobias, etc"What does this sympathy mean dear Squiggles? Do you have anything better than benzos for acute anxiety ? Do you think much hailed antidepressants are better than benzos for generalized anxiety disorder? Do you believe MAOIs are better than benzos for phobias? I agree with you benzos are not the first line medicines for epilepsy. But what about the rest?
Benzos should have their drawbacks. I believe ,But they are much, much safer than ADs and other hard medications used in psychiatric practice. True, a dose of chlorpromazine or fluphenazine can effectively tranquilize you as benzos do, or better than benzos to some extent. But see the side effect profiles of such phenothiazine drugs. Look at the Merck manual please.
"Ah, the benzo group - yes it has left its mark on
me. After working so closely together with
Ray Nimmo who has just won a $40,000 lawsuit in the U.K. for benzo brain damage (not bad);"Pencillin saved millions of lives and killed some patients also. I have seen many cases nephrotoxicity because of the excessive use of antibiotics. Garamycin can irreversibly damage auditory neves. What do you suggest Squiggles? Antibiotics should be banned.. or reserved to research purposes only and leave those infected patients heel themselves without these wonderful drugs?
It is how and why you use a drug that makes the difference. And not ONLY the drug itself. Even water can be toxic if used excessively or inappropriately. If you ingest oxygen rectally it can kill you. Do you think oxygen is toxic?"I still need some time to answer the question
on dependence and addiction (which btw i do not
find anything but a linquistic squabble)"It is not merely a linguistic squabble my dear Squiggles, There is definitely an existing difference. If you are a hypertensive and using antihypertensive medications for a long time, you will not be able to come off those drugs, or if you do so, your hypertensive symptoms will come back with more strength and vengence. It is not an addiction but a medical dependence. So is the matter with diabetics and medications used to control glucose level. Like benzos these medications never cure the illness, but simply mask or halt the symptoms. The dependence which benzos cause should only be taken in this regard. We are not bothered to call a diabetic an insulin addict. But he or she is an insulin dependent person. So do those anxious patients who are on benzos.
A linguistic squabble is there where physicians describe the effects of benzos as masking rather than correcting the chemical imbalance as antidepressants do. The important point here is masking the symptoms and correcting the chemical imbalance, both doesn't make any difference in patients. The effect is the same or rather I like the effect of klonopin, no matter whether it masks or corrects.
Don't waste your precious time researching the difference of dependence and addiction. "Depending on a created necessity is truly an addiction." That is all I can say.
HIBA
poster:hiba
thread:116708
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020814/msgs/117054.html