Prescription Addiction - Facts And Stats
Posted on 2004-03-10
It's almost 4:00am and I've been awake for over 36 hours. My doctor's on holiday, my Mum is in bed and I'm in the middle of yet another panic attack. I'm starting to get used to having to deal with these on my own, but it doesn't make it any less scary.
I've been learning a lot about prescription drug addiction over the last few days. I thought seeing as my doctor isn't available until next week I'd try and find some answers in order to try and help myself. Deep down inside I know that ultimately it is only me that can help me anyway.
Below are a few facts and statistics that I've uncovered..... some of them are pretty shocking.....
- Prescription drug addiction to benzodiazepines is far more gripping and debilitating than addiction to heroin or cocaine. Withdrawal is recognised to be more difficult, more prolonged and can last months or years depending on the years of use, dosage and the concurrent prescribing with other drugs.
- Withdrawal symptoms from tranquillizers and sleeping pills can include insomnia, panic attacks, agitation, hallucinations, paranoia, depersonalisation, derealisation, depression, pressure in the head, anxiety, loss of appetite, weight loss, visual distortions, flashbacks, lack of concentration, agoraphobia, dizziness, sweating, nausea, nightmares, palpitations, creeping sensation in the skin, increased sensitivity to light, touch and smell, pins and needles, numbness, seizures and sometimes even death. A too rapid withdrawal causes major hyper excitability of the brain and central nervous system. A slow taper of weeks and months depending on use is recommended under close, ongoing medical supervision by a knowledgeable doctor and/or addiction specialist.
- Worldwide sales of prescription drugs exceed $300 billion yearly with tranquillizers, sleeping pills, anti-depressants and other Central Nervous System drugs accounting for an estimated $76 billion in sales.
- Inappropriate prescribing and uninformed use of prescriptions cost healthcare systems billions of dollars worldwide yearly.
- Prescription Drugs are fast exceeding the cost of physician services.
- By law, when a physician prescribes drugs for a patient, the physician is required to ensure that the patient is fully informed of the drugs risks and benefits, and consents to the drug therapy with full informed knowledge. Statistics show that this occurs in less than 20% of the patient population.
- 43% of emergency room suicide attempts or overdoses involve tranquillizers and sleeping pills.
- An estimated 60% of users of tranquilizers and sleeping pills suffer a mixture of adverse effects and withdrawal after 2 to 4 weeks of use [including therapeutic dose levels] due to tolerance and addiction.
- 68% of people prescribed tranquillizers and sleeping pills receive their prescriptions from only one doctor.
- 40% of impaired or dead drivers of motor vehicles show prescription drugs in their systems - predominantly tranquillizers and sleeping pills.
- Non 'psychiatric' conditions account for 70% of tranquillizer and sleeping pill prescribing and usage.
- Cross addictions to other drugs and alcohol occur in 73% of benzodiazepine users - many of whom never used or had problems with alcohol or other drugs previously.
- Substance use and mental illness co exist in an estimated 50% - 70% of patients diagnosed with 'alleged psychiatric disorders'. These 'alleged psychiatric disorders' often disappear once a patient is off all medications and as a result of lifestyle changes including exercise and diet.
- There is extensive worldwide concurrent prescribing of benzodiazepines with antidepressants to approximately 60% of patients/consumers [often prescribed to counteract the adverse/side effects of one category of drugs with another].
- An estimated 4 million people in the UK have used prescribed benzodiazepine tranquillizers and hypnotics [sleeping pills] regularly for 5 to 10 years or more according to a study in the early 1990s. Similar figures apply in the US, Europe and in some Asian countries, with the trend continuing.
- Addiction to prescription drugs such as tranquillizers and sleeping pills is the inability to discontinue the use of the drugs as a direct result of the build up of tolerance and when the original dose has progressively less effect and a higher dose is required over time. Tolerance produces a recognised withdrawal syndrome and can precipitate 'mini withdrawals' 'or inter dose withdrawals' between pills depending on the 'half life' of the drugs. This often leads to doctors prescribing increased dosages and/or prescribing another benzodiazepine and/or cross addictions to other drugs, primarily alcohol, to withstand the withdrawal symptoms.
- Pharmaceutical companies spend more on marketing and promotion of drugs than on research and development - an estimated $15,000 - $20,000 on every doctor with expenditures of $8.3 billion in the United States in 1998.
- The adverse effects of benzodiazepines can include: paradoxical agitation, increased behavioural disinhibition, impaired new learning, decreased short and long-term memory, impaired psycho-motor functioning, [many times leading to accidents and/or falls], rage, the appearance or worsening of anxiety and depression, suicidal ideation, emotional anesthesia, the potential for permanent cognitive impairment, tolerance and addiction leading to acute and protracted withdrawal. These effects have been known for over 2 decades but little has been done to address the problem or to change doctors prescribing habits.
- The National Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse in 2001 found that General Practitioners don't properly assess for addictions and alarmingly, fewer than one third can diagnose addiction to prescription drugs - a problem doctors create.
- Guidelines for acceptable duration of benzodiazepine use dating back over 2 decades state a maximum of 2 to 4 weeks or for intermittent use only. Most recently, guidelines state 7 to 10 days.
- The infrastructure - detox, treatment and recovery centres available and doctors knowledgeable to help people withdraw from tranquillizers, sleeping pills and anti-depressants - is minimal, and in many places non existent.
- Misdiagnosis, misprescribing and mistreatment of patients who trust their doctors to 'do no harm' continue today in the area of tranquilizers, sleeping pills and anti-depressants.
- Many patients are prescribed several different benzodiazepines and several different anti-depressants at the same time. In some cases, patients are further prescribed neuroleptics and then anti psychotics. It is not unsual to find patients on 3 - 7 different nervous system drugs.
- Anti-depressants including Prozac, Paroxatine, Seroxat, Paxil, Zoloft, Luvox and Celexa can have significant side effects including drug induced mania leading to suicide, suicidal ideation, violence, criminal acts, disinhibition or out of control behaviour; drug induced severe anxiety, agitation and depressions; drug induced obsessions and compulsions; drug induced akathisia [an internal sensation of agitation or discomfort that drives a person to move about and also to lose impulse control]; tolerance and addiction leading to a recognised withdrawal syndrome which can include bouts of overwhelming depression, insomnia, fatigue and life-threatening physical effects, psychosis and violent out bursts.
- During the past decade and with greater frequency, there has been an alarming increase in murder/suicides, suicides, domestic violence, bizarre mass killings, mother [parents] killing children, road and air rage, school shootings and workplace violence. In most cases documented evidence has shown the involvement of Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Luvox, SSRI/Anti-depressant drugs and/or other mind altering drugs.