Chris Cornell, a musician who committed suicide May 18, was apparently taking Ativan, a psychotropic drug which has known side effects of violence and suicide.
“…Cornell was a recovering addict with a prescription for the anti-anxiety medication Ativan and that he may have taken a bigger than recommended dosage.”
Ativan (generic lorazepam) is a highly addictive benzodiazepine anti-anxiety drug, and is known to cause violence and suicide either during use or after withdrawal. A typical dose is 1 to 3 milligrams orally 2 to 3 times per day, typically costing around $10 per 1 milligram tablet. It takes about two hours to feel the drug’s full effects, and it typically takes 10 to 20 hours for the drug to leave a person’s system.
Lorazepam as Ativan was first introduced in the U.S. by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in 1977. Many of the so-called “beneficial effects” of the drug are considered “adverse effects” when they occur unwanted, such as its sedative effect, muscle relaxant effect, and amnesiac effect. These side effects are dose-dependent, meaning they get more pronounced the higher the dose. Other significant side effects are confusion, hostility, aggression, agitation, and suicidal behavior. Physical addiction characterized by withdrawal symptoms occurs in about one-third of individuals who are treated for longer than four weeks, although withdrawal symptoms can occur after taking therapeutic doses of Ativan for as little as one week. If treatment is continued longer than four to six months, tolerance develops and the dosage must be increased to get the same effects.
Signs of overdose can include confusion, hostility, aggression, suicidal behavior, drowsiness, hypnotic state, coma, cardiovascular depression, respiratory depression, and death. 810 drugs, and alcohol, are known to interact with lorazepam. Taking larger amounts of Ativan than prescribed, taking the drug more often than prescribed and taking the drug for longer than prescribed are considered abuse. Most commonly, overdoses occur when Ativan is taken in combination with alcohol or other drugs. Fifty thousand people went to the emergency room in 2011 due to lorazepam complications. Twenty-seven million prescriptions for lorazepam were written in 2011.
While this drug is used to treat anxiety, it doesn’t really do anything for the anxiety itself; it is primarily taken for its sedative side effect. The “side effects” are really the actual drug effects.
This great musician, and many other artists who committed suicide while taking psychiatric drugs, were offered “help” that was only betrayal. This psychiatric assault on artists of every genre has only increased, as the psychiatric industry peddles its array of deadly addictive psychotropic drugs for profit only. Click here for more information about psychiatry harming artists and ruining creativity.