Posted by viridis on December 29, 2002, at 3:07:31
In reply to Scary Benzo web site- Opinions?, posted by Peter S. on December 27, 2002, at 15:27:51
I've seen that site before, and it reminds me of some of the infomercials you see on late-night TV -- flashy but superficial, with "celebrities" (here, doctors or would-be doctors) promoting things they obviously don't know much about, and a collection of exaggerated and/or suspicious testimonials that are impossible to verify.
I didn't spend a lot of time at the site, but I see that one of their "experts" has a PhD in some unspecified subject (which could be Medieval Poetry, from all I can tell), another has an "honorary" doctorate in alternative medicine, and another deals with prison inmates (probably not a typical patient population). The one apparently credible doctor I noticed implies in at least one of her articles that physiologically- and neurochemically-based hypotheses of mental illness (not just anxiety disorders) are questionable, and seems to be in favor of psychotherapy for mental problems in general.
Many of the scientific papers and media articles that are cited address problems of benzo abuse in heavy users of street drugs -- certainly not the typical benzo-user population. The headlines regarding crackdowns on benzos in Canada don't square with my (limited) understanding of that country's position on benzos, or the information on the Health Canada website. There seems to be considerable emphasis on how to sue doctors for prescribing benzos and get as much money out of them as possible.
I could go on (and I admit that I didn't examine the site in great detail, any more than I would read the National Enquirer cover-to-cover at the supermarket), but my impression was that it's mostly slickly-packaged hype. Of course, this is just my opinion, and I am biased toward proper medical care for those with anxiety disorders.
poster:viridis
thread:132986
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021223/msgs/133621.html