The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now requiring the most prominent warning label for benzodiazepines, psychotropic drugs commonly prescribed for anxiety.
According to the FDA, more than 92 million prescriptions were written for benzodiazepines in 2019.
Benzodiazepines are prescribed to treat anxiety, insomnia or panic attacks, typically for a few weeks to six months; an estimated 50% of patients take them for two months or longer. Some of the more common brand names are Ativan, Chantix, Klonopin, Librium, Rohypnol, Valium, Versed, and Xanax.
These drugs have significant risks, because they are highly addictive and can have severe side effects, including violence and suicide. Addiction can occur after as little as 14 days of regular use, and withdrawal is often more difficult than withdrawal from heroin. Stopping benzodiazepines abruptly or reducing the dosage too quickly can result in acute withdrawal reactions, including life-threatening seizures.
There is also a “rebound effect” where the individual experiences even worse symptoms after stopping the drug than they had prior to taking the drug.
The FDA’s announcement means makers of benzodiazepines must now have a boxed warning label to include risks of abuse, misuse, addiction, physical dependence and withdrawal reactions.
Psychiatric Fraud and Abuse
Psychiatry’s fraudulent theory that a brain–based, chemical imbalance causes mental illness was invented to sell drugs. That these drugs are now known to be harmful and addictive is all too typical of psychiatric “treatments.”
But what about those who say psychotropic drugs really did make them feel better? Psychotropic drugs may temporarily suppress the pressure that an underlying physical problem could be causing but they do not correct or cure any disease or condition. Once the drug has worn off, the original problem remains, and the body is worse off from the drug’s nerve damage. As a solution or cure to life’s problems, psychotropic drugs do not work. Often real physical conditions can produce similar mental symptoms as the person is experiencing. The correct action on a seriously mentally disturbed person is a full, searching clinical examination by a competent medical doctor to discover and treat the true cause of the problem.
Report any adverse psychiatric drug effects to the FDA’s MedWatch program.
