MP who committed suicide had overcome a dependency on benzodiazepines

A 2009 article about a 39-year-old Member of Parliament in Canada:

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/former-mp-dave-batters-takes-own-life-1.796515

 

 

A 2009 article about a 39-year-old Member of Parliament in Canada:

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/former-mp-dave-batters-takes-own-life-1.796515

 

 

 

very very sad, there are quite a few cases like him in Europe.

2009 BB existed, might have saved his life if he joined the Forum, a big tragedy.

Yes, I agree. Very sad. Such a young man.

 

Our prime minister eulogized him in one of our national newspapers in a beautiful tribute:

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/a-farewell-to-former-mp-dave-batters/article4194411/

 

There was also this article, which mentioned a dependence on benzodiazepines and a "detoxification program" in hospital:

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/mps-widow-makes-case-for-national-suicide-prevention-plan/article552301/

 

 

 

Thanks Lapis, one thing i doubt is that science has progressed,

its more like speculation as Robert Whitaker says,  so many questions and no answers.

I don't know what "detoxification program" means. Slow taper? Rapid taper? Abrupt stop? It can take SO long to heal from these things. To me, it's a haunting story. This man was a public figure, but I'm sure there are other stories that we never hear about. How many?

 

Morreweg, if you know of examples in Europe and have some news stories to share with the rest of us, please do. Are benzodiazepines mentioned? Are they connected directly to someone's suicide?

 

Best wishes,

Lapis2

Lapis , when i started my journey i did a lot of research .

Found an amazing article from 1988 in one of the top German magazines called DER SPIEGEL.

i gave them a phone call and to my amazement they could offer me 3 copies back from 1988.

i took all 3 of them, one for family and one for my new GP as well.

 

shocking article....the most dangerous pills on prescription......Benzodiazepines.

then they wrote about different Europen Victims like Poiliticians, actors, singers,

writers and so on, thats it, nothing heard ever since.

 

it aslo said after long term use, they can destroy people's life, change their personality

and in desperation when trying to get off them, people choose the tragic way out.

 

just imagine, this was back in 1988. whats going on ? i am perplex.

 

No public information here in Europe to my knowledge .

 

Lapis, in my opinion 'detoxification program' (at the most 4 weeks if one is lucky )  can't be used for Benzos , its not stated

in the Ashton manual either, thats why rehab detox places in most cases

do more harm than good.

 

 

 

 

Oh, Morreweg, I just got goosebumps reading your post! Wow! Danke schoen for sharing that. 1988? Amazing. And sad. And scary.

 

That Harvard paper I shared is from 1997. The World Health Organization had a document out in 1996. This Le Conseil d'Europe paper is from 1990:

 

 

https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=603911&Site=CM

 

It recommends short-term use only (four weeks is mentioned).

 

I'm perplexed too.

Thanks for the article Lapis, after 24 months i am just too excausted to do more research,

my desk here is full of Benzo-books.

i think if i got a Euro for the amount of times i said the word Benzo , i would be rich by now.

 

Gute Besserung, alles liebe.

Thanks for the article Lapis, after 24 months i am just too excausted to do more research,

my desk here is full of Benzo-books.

i think if i got a Euro for the amount of times i said the word Benzo , i would be rich by now.

 

You have been at this so long, Morroweg. What are your symptoms this far out?

Thanks for the article Lapis, after 24 months i am just too excausted to do more research,

my desk here is full of Benzo-books.

i think if i got a Euro for the amount of times i said the word Benzo , i would be rich by now.

 

You have been at this so long, Morroweg. What are your symptoms this far out?

 

raw cold turkey, eyes, ears , nerve pain..and a few more.

1OO.OOO sxs and around 15 left. Holy monkey !!!!!!!

I wish you well, Morreweg! I wish everyone well. It's time already.

 

Lapis2

I wish you well, Morreweg! I wish everyone well. It's time already.

 

Lapis2

 

Thank you Lapis, very kind of you. i wish i could snap a magic finger so all of us recover quickly

and we have a big celebration party.

 

I want to go to that party more than I can express! Yes, yes, yes!

It's the weeks, months, and at times years FOLLOWING the last dose that are just as important as the taper or detox itself. When will doctors ever acknowledge this?? The poor fellow was most likely going through terrible w/d, and no one around him understood what was happening. Why, oh why, do doctors persist in their backward thinking that just because the benzo is "out" of the body, the symptoms will be also?? Because that's not the case at all, and no wonder doctors and other well-meaning but clueless people begin adding this or that other drug to an already-overloaded body, thinking the person has depression or anxiety rather than realizing that the patient is actually experiencing w/d.

 

I was on a previous forum where I went through tapering. Everything was geared toward the end of tapering and how great that would be. I was totally unprepared for the onslaught of symptoms that I had once tapering was finished, and I began coming over to BB more and more in order to try and understand. Without BB, I would be absolutely lost.

You're right, Terry38. When I read the article, I thought about what it might be like to be such a public person while dealing with such issues. Perhaps he felt pressure to get better quickly. Perhaps there was confusion, shame, fear, etc., when that didn't happen.

 

It's a sad story.

Yes, it's a sad story, Lapis. But I keep hoping that someday the lid will pop off and what's been hidden for far too long and has ruined so many lives will finally be out in the open and won't ever be hidden again.

Darn right! I'm with you on that one. And I'm sure many other BBs are too.