Posted by Kon on January 6, 2004, at 23:45:56
In reply to Re: Long Term Klonopin Usage, posted by Mr. Scott on January 5, 2004, at 22:37:02
>in fact, benzos will increase your IQ if you have a clinically signifigant degree of anxiety to begin with.
When one is preoccupied by their anxiety, one has less ability to focus on a task but there is no evidence I've come across suggesting long-term benzo use will increase one's IQ. If you have any such studies, please post them. In fact, a number of studies suggest that long-term psychotropic drug use (including benzos)can cause cognitive problems even in anxious individuals; that is, anxious patients who aren't on medication score higher on cognitive/memory tests than anxious patients that have been on long-term psychotropic drug treatment (including benzos). Moreover, a number of studies suggest improvement in memory/cognition tests following withdrawl of benzos. See studies below.
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Psychol Med. 1999 Mar;29(2):421-8.Anxiety, depression, psychotropic drug use and cognitive impairment.
Paterniti S, Dufouil C, Bisserbe JC, Alperovitch A.
Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, Unit 360, Paris, France.
BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have shown that anxiety and depression are related to cognitive impairment, but the concomitant association between anxious symptoms, depressive symptoms and cognitive function has not been investigated, and, most studies have not considered psychotropic drug use as a possible confounding factor. METHODS: We assessed the independent association between depression, anxiety, psychotropic drug use and cognitive performance in 457 men and 659 women, aged 59-71 years living in the community. Data on demographic background, occupation, medical history, drug use and personal habits were obtained using a standardized questionnaire. The Spielberger Inventory Trait and the Center for Epidemiologic Study-Depression (CES-D) scales were used to evaluate anxious and depressive symptomatology respectively. Cognitive assessment included six traditional tests covering the main areas of cognitive functioning. RESULTS: In men, anxious and depressive symptomatologies had independent significant associations with most cognitive abilities, independent of psychotropic drug use. In women, the association between anxiety or depression and cognitive functioning was less strong and disappeared after adjustment for psychotropic drug use. Psychotropic drug use was associated with lower cognitive scores in both sexes. In men with high CES-D scores, we found positive correlations between anxiety level and cognitive scores. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that anxiety, depression and psychotropic drug use were significantly and independently associated with cognitive functioning in elderly men. The high prevalence of psychotropic drug use in women with or without psychological disorders may explain its major effect in women. Results suggested that anxiety may partly compensate for some negative effects of depression on cognitive functioning.
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Psychol Med. 1994 Feb;24(1):203-13.Lack of cognitive recovery following withdrawal from long-term benzodiazepine use.
Tata PR, Rollings J, Collins M, Pickering A, Jacobson RR.
Department of Psychology, St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London.
Twenty-one patients with significant long-term therapeutic benzodiazepine (BZ) use, who remained abstinent at 6 months follow-up after successfully completing a standardized inpatient BZ withdrawal regime, and 21 normal controls matched for age and IQ but not for anxiety, were repeatedly tested on a simple battery of routine psychometric tests of cognitive function, pre- and post-withdrawal and at 6 months follow-up. The results demonstrated significant impairment in patients in verbal learning and memory, psychomotor, visuo-motor and visuo-conceptual abilities, compared with controls, at all three time points. Despite practice effects, no evidence of immediate recovery of cognitive function following BZ withdrawal was found. Modest recovery of certain deficits emerged at 6 months follow-up in the BZ group, but this remained significantly below the equivalent control performance. The implications of persisting cognitive deficits after withdrawal from long-term BZ use are discussed.
poster:Kon
thread:295342
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