Mental Health Benefits Of Benzodiazepines

The purpose of this paper is to go into extensive research on Alprazolam aka “Xanax” in the duration of this paper, it will be evident the impact that this drug can have on the human body and in my instances, it will be apparent not only how helpful it can be but how life damaging it can be, if not taken safely and carefully. This report will go into extensive detail on the psychodynamics of the drug as well as the pharmacokinetics. Alprazolam is quite powerful and mind altering the affects that it can have on the body can be very intense, especially if not taking carefully which is why it is vital to make sure that you take the recommended doses taken by your doctor, failure to do so can result in death.

Xanax is a benzodiazepine that is most often used to treat anxiety. The effects of benzodiazepines mainly come from their ability to alter the movement of the inhibitory transmitter known as GABAa. GABA is triggered to release when it then can bind to the GABAa receptor. The binding of the two causes the ion channel to open and chloride ions are sent across the cell membrane. This causes the inhibitory factor by depolarizing the membrane (Griffin et al., 2013).

The study by Amato, Minozzi and Davoli (2011) examined five randomized controlled trials to find an efficient and safe medication to treat AWS. The study which had a total of 7333 patients concluded that benzodiazepines were better for controlling seizures when compared to a placebo and antipsychotics (Amato et al., 2011). When comparing benzodiazepines versus anticonvulsants, researchers concluded that the benzodiazepine chlordiazepoxide had better outcomes. No other studies were found which would compare the effectiveness among benzodiazepines for the treatment of AWS.

What drug is the antagonist and may be used to treat benzodiazepine overdose? What is the dosage in adults? Pediatric patients? What is the risk for complication with its use?

In 1955, antipsychotic medications were introduced to help mental disorders. These medications are usually taken orally in which help relieve symptoms for periods of days. The misuse or abuse of the medications are low. There are three generations of antipsychotic medications. The first generation is known for reducing hallucinations and delusions, but not affecting problems like disorientation or depression. An example would be chlorpromazine, brand name being Thorazine. Some negative side effects of taking the first generation drugs are Parkinson’s-like symptoms, tardive dyskinesia, and weight gain. Next, the second generation drugs minimized the outcome of the individual getting Parkinson’s-like symptoms. An example of this generation would be Clozaril. “A unique feature of Clozaril is the 1 to 2 percent chance of developing a potentially lethal blood disease called agranulocytosis” (Levinthal 282). This disease decreases white blood cells and affects the immune system. If early signs of this disease start to appear the patient will stop taking Clozaril and recover. Lastly, the third generation has shown to be the most effective on schizophrenia. Abilify is an example of this generation drug. It does not have a risk of Parkinson’s, tardive dyskinesia, or diabetes. Abilify blocks specific serotonin receptors in which prevents negative side effects from happening. These different

A variety of interventions such as anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines and combination therapies included were not considered in the economic analysis. Benzodiazepines is a drug that cannot be used longer than 2 to 4 weeks to treat anxiety. Clinical evidence on anticonvulsants and combination therapies had an overall low quality and was particular limited. Due to these reasons, the inclusion of these interventions in the analysis would not have significant implications for decision making. A significant limitation of the economic analysis was the poor quality of the recurrence of symptoms data used because of the lack of full bodied evidence of comparative risk of relapse between psychological and pharmacological interventions. Besides, the lack of intervention specific data, the economic model supposed one common risk of relapse employed to all pharmacological interventions and one common risk of relapse across all psychological ones. However, the evidence suggest that in contrast to pharmacological interventions, which has a relatively high relapse risk at six months of maintenance treatment, the psychological interventions is well maintained after end of treatment. Besides, for the economic model, the mean probabilities of

In order to be able to treat a person with depression effectively, doctors have to sort out what kind of role the narcotics may play in the depression. If the feelings of depression is simply a part of a withdrawal due to a narcotic and are only something temporary, it is very unlikely that a antidepressant will be of any benefit. Antidepressants take a bare minimum of two to three weeks to begin working. The most effective treatment in such a case would be to try and help the person at hand to get their drug use under control or stop entirely. Both taking drugs and the withdrawal process may produce depressive symptoms themselves, makingit very difficult to know what it is that’s exactly going on, if it even seems that the depression led to taking drugs in the first place. As a result, It’s extremely vital to the treatment of the individual that the problem with narcotics is sorted out so that is will be possible to further judge whether antidepressants or other treatments used for depression will be needed. This, of course, does not mean it’s

In the book Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal, Dr. Peter R. Breggin Breggin establishes guidelines to assist prescribers and therapists in withdrawing their patients from psychiatric drugs, including those patients with long-term exposure to antipsychotic drugs, benzodiazepines, stimulants, antidepressants, and mood stabilizers. He asserts that pharmaceutical companies along with the influence of managed care in health care settings have led to psychiatric medication being considered the answer to address mental illness. Dr. Breggin utilizes years of clinical experience, discussions with colleagues, and research to develop this insight. This insight is highly beneficial to aspiring practitioners and practicing professionals in five distinct ways. It helps to practitioners to recognize common and sometimes overlooked adverse drug effects that may

This is an accurate representation of medication for depression. It does not make you want to live, it does not fix your thinking, it just makes you functional. It allows you to do things you wouldn’t usually be able to, and maybe after a while you will be able to function on your own.

Sedative-hypnotics, including benzodiazepines, are a group of drugs used to treat the symptoms of anxiety, panic disorders, and insomnia.

To minimize adverse effects associated with benzodiazepines (e.g. over sedation, confusion, and ataxia) in the elderly it is important to bear in mind the start low and go-slow rule. In general, recommended to use half the dose of the benzodiazepine.

This report will focus on the effects and memory of therapeutic and off label drugs. A study shown by Star*D gives insight to the first exposure to a patient taking antidepressant, that only 28% to 33% will go into complete remission. Total remission of depressive symptoms is now the aim of current modern antidepressant psychopharmacology (Rosse, Richard MD 2007). Research has shown that mostly all the market available antidepressant users are very effective in treating depression. It has been proven to in fact elevate the patient’s mood and help retake interest in everyday life. Aside other frustrations such as poor sleep and concentration and loss of care for sleep this drug has been effective. Antidepressants have also been successfully

Benzodiazepine are commonly used and widely trusted for medical use because they have high safety rating, and death is rare even among cases of overdose. Valium medically targets certain chemicals in the brain that cause anxiety because they have become unbalanced. It is used medically to treat anxiety, forms of epilepsy, panic attacks, spontaneous muscle spasms, alcohol withdrawal, and other types of drug withdrawals. It is a legal drug in the United States. In 1963, three years after it was approved, it was released the the public and like other benzodiazepine drugs, it quickly became popular. In fact, it was the best selling pharmaceutical in the United States from 1969 to 1982. Due to this popularity, Hoffmann La-Roche gained a credible and well-known reputation. Valium is a popular and well known drug.

Systematic reviews are based on an extensive and meticulous search for studies and research and are selective of the data that is reported; excluding poor quality studies and accurately categorizing the quality of the research that has been chosen (Melnyk, & Fineout-Overholt, 2011). Once there are several sources of information presented on issues, or studies that are conducted on a concern; clinicians may then set-out to pull together the results of the findings into one area to aid in visualizing the larger scheme of the concern. In this manner, identifying the relevance, side-effects and outcomes of drugs to control or alter the experiences of patients with particular diseases and disorders becomes instrumental in how clinical practices and guidelines are developed (Taylor, Cornelius, Smith, & Young, 2014). In this paper, the use of aripiprazole alone and in combination with other drug agents will be examined through identifying the medications relevance, safety concerns and hypothesized patient outcomes as illustrated by the culmination of current studies. Through the use of a systematic research review (SRR), we will assist in setting a standard of care built on the research of aripiprazole that identifies “what is identified as inevitability, what is tentatively recognized, and what are the disparities of knowledge regarding its usage” (Garay, Llorca, Young, Hameg, & Samalin, 2014).

The efficacy and safety of the drug in patients under the age of 18 years is not established. With renal / hepatic insufficiency and long-term treatment, control over the picture of peripheral blood and liver enzymes is necessary. Patients who did not take previously psychoactive drugs respond to the drug at lower doses compared to patients taking antidepressants, anxiolytics or alcohol. With endogenous depression, alprazolam can be used in combination with antidepressants. With the use of alprazolam, patients with depression have seen cases of hypomanic and manic development. Like other benzodiazepines, alprazolam has the ability to induce drug dependence in long-term admission in large doses (more than 4 mg / day). With a sudden discontinuation of alprazolam, there may be comeback syndromes, such as depression, irritability, insomnia, increased sweating, especially with prolonged admission (more than 8-12 weeks). When patients develop such unusual reactions as increased aggressiveness, acute excitations, feelings of fear, thoughts of suicide, hallucinations, increased muscle cramps, difficult sleep, superficial sleep, treatment should be discontinued. During pregnancy Xanax is very dangerous due to its toxic effect on the fetus and increases the risk of congenital malformations when applied in the first trimester of pregnancy. Admission of therapeutic doses in later periods