I think about that every day, the criminality of it.
I have a 28 YO niece who has started her journey into benzos with a prescription of Ativan "just for flying" since she is terrified of it. A year later she admitted she had a big trip coming up so she took one the night before as well as the flight day. We can all see where this is going. She has seen me in my journey, and I have tried to gently express what hell I've gone through, but hey I'm just the 60 year old aunt. People don't believe the horror when it's right in front of them.
I'm still convinced it's epigenetics and altered gene expression - and agree with [...] that it is highly individual for each of us. Each of us is not altered the same way. And I don't think it's limited to receptor downregulation - I think these drugs may change hundreds of genes over time. Hence the varied and extensive array of withdrawal symptoms.
Last summer I was astonished at the results of an 8-week study (albeit small) where healthy middle aged men were observed to have turned back their biological age 3 years with diet, exercise, meditation etc. The lead author just published a book:
Younger You by Kara Fitzgerald.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Younger_You/PO4REAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcoverAdmittedly she is monetizing the concept (no surprise there) but it's all about healthy and balanced methylation processes which turn genes on/off to alter gene expression in the best way possible. It resonates with me. That and attending to our microbiome is the best we have right now.
