Pharmacological treatment of anxiety: the flip side of benzodiazepines

By Cristiano Antonino On Mar 3, 2023

Let’s talk benzodiazepines: anxiety is one of the most widespread psychological problems in modern society, given the numerous demands to which we are called upon to respond every day

These stresses have a different impact on individuals, depending on their biological temperament, stress factors and unpleasant past experiences during childhood that hinder their ability to regulate their emotional states as adults.

This is why benzodiazepines (bdz), or minor tranquillisers, mainly used for the short-term treatment of anxiety and insomnia, are widely sold drugs.

Benzodiazepines: pros and cons

Benzodiazepines fall into the category of central nervous system depressants and thus have a calming and sedative action.

While there is no denying the fact that benzodiazepines have the merit of making perception of reality less dangerous or perhaps improving the quality and duration of sleep, it is true that they do have their limitations, that of inducing a mechanism of dependence and addiction.

The latter takes place especially when the use of such drugs is prolonged, which is why benzodiazepines should be used for limited periods.

The brain also accurately registers the experience of the initial rapid effect and this would mean that even when it ceases, the person still feels the need to take the drug again if necessary.

It has been observed that even those who have benefited from different molecules for the treatment of anxiety symptoms would resort to benzodiazepines again at the time of relapse.

Once the use of benzodiazepines is discontinued, unpleasant side effects such as

stupor combined with nervousness
aggressiveness
feeling of threat
unpleasant increase in sensory perception

The behaviour of the benzodiazepine addict has often been the subject of study, and it has been observed that abusers tend to take much higher doses than the initial ones and sometimes combine them with other psychotropic substances or alcohol (8 out of 10).

There are a number of factors that would increase the risk of developing addiction to benzodiazepines, among them:

The duration of treatment and the size of the doses taken

The type of benzodiazepine used
The use of rapid-release preparations

In view of the high risk of developing dependence on benzodiazepines by patients suffering from anxiety symptoms, safety measures have been taken, including the inclusion of certain molecules in special tables: in this case, prescriptions for the drug, being non-repeatable and having limited validity, would not allow the patient to obtain new prescriptions without having been seen again by the doctor.

Conclusions

Benzodiazepines are a decidedly useful class of drugs in the treatment of anxiety disorders and insomnia, however it should not be overlooked that such molecules can in some cases induce unpleasant mechanisms of addiction and dependence.

It is also for this reason that it is important to combine drug therapy with a course of psychotherapy that can provide the patient with effective tools, free of side effects.