Anxiety Recovery & Benzos

I have and worked around the anxiety disorder field for over 30 years and I can tell you that no one I know that recovered was on any drugs when they reached final recovery. Anxiety recovery is a complex journey and one that drugs often lengthen.

As far as psychiatrists go....they are captives of the voices they listen to. The Anxiety Disorders Association of America was founded by Dr. Robert DuPont, at the time he was on the board of directors for Upjohn the pharmaceutical company that makes Xanax and convinced the medical community is was the new insulin for people with anxiety.

He lectures far and wide telling physicians that anxiety was a defect in brain chemistry and that benzos and especially Xanax was not addictive and the patient should be on lifelong chemotherapy - not to mind that there is no proof that any brain chemistry abnormality exists and outright admission by the pharmaceutical companies that benzos and SSRi's and all the other drugs will not cure anxiety.

Anxiety disorders are an upregulation of the CNS stress system that often begins in childhood in people that have a sensitive nervous system. It is not genetic other than you may have inherited a CNS that reacts easily to stress. It does include learned behavior from the messages the family passes down (both verbal and unspoken)

Then years of cognitive, behavioral, adjustment and stress dysfunctions conspire to bring the patient to the threshold of the nervous system and anxiety and panic ensue. The cure is not powerful mind altering drugs - it is diligently worked program of stress reduction, relearning, self-care, lifestyle change and support.

Getting off benzos does not mean you are destined to a lifetime of suffering with no medication - it is the start of true healing and the potential to return to a quality lifestyle.

Sit

However,  people with absolutely no history of any previous anxiety issues, who may for example have been suffering from the very real and natural grief of loss over a loved one's death, who have been put on benzos, have become "iatreogenically" dependent and have suffered from severe, debilitating anxiety and panic; not a disorder, I hasten to add, but a perfectly "normal" reaction to the temporary damage done by the benzodiazepines to the CNS and GABA receptors. The solution to the problem proves invariably to be to get off the "meds" and allow the CNS to heal. No other therapy is indicated for prior issues, imho, because that assumes the person is indeed "unbalanced" in some way, whereas in fact they are perfectly "normal" and are responding correctly to the poison that has been ingested. The imputation that people who are addicted to benzos and suffer the anxiety that comes with it are in some way suffering from "Generalized Anxiety Disorder," or "Anxiety Disorder" has no basis in fact. And I resent that label having been attached to me and to so many others around here.

Tony

Tony

That is true, but what is also true for some people is that the brain has a neuronal memory called an engram that imprints every fear and strong emotion we feel. Severe benzo anxiety can teach the brain to recall this and it can take some people additional work to recover from this portion of benzo damage.

Anxiety disorders are not genetic or brain defects. They are caused by chronic upregulation of the CNS through stress, learning, cognitive and behavioral dysfunction and a sensitive nervous system.

Benzos cause severe activation of the stress reactive system, alter cognitions, lower stress reactivity and can create learned anxiety.

Sit

Sit

Yet there is tons of anecdotal evidence that when people get the benzos completely out of their system and their GABA receptors heal, they tend to feel reborn. Even in come cases people who had anxiety problems, and those who have not had any therapy. How does one explain that then?  I personally am convinced, "It's the benzos!"  :2funny: You are of course entitled to your own opinion, and I hope we can agree to disagree amicably.

T

Hi Sit and Tony.  I agree with both of you.  Sit...I don't understand why you post so much info and not offer some helpful advice as far as preventing what you seem to be referring to as PTSD from benzo withdrawal?  If you are going to bring up issues like this, since you seem so knowledgable, why can't you offer some helpful suggestions that might help our members go through this process a little less unscathed so to speak.  It would be really great if you could or would do something like this.  Because I do believe that some of this can be avoided...if wd is approached in a more knowledgeable manner? 

I do believe in cellular memories, etc...that is why some people have a reoccurrence of wd symptoms long after wd when faced with a traumatic incident.  Not everyone will, though...and I do believe it is because the memory of wd comes back, so to speak, appearing with another face, but same symptoms.  On the other hand, I also agree that physiologically we are much more prone to anxiety when we are tapering and once off, we regain and recover some of those lost coping mechanisms that were blunted by benzos.  So we do become "reborn"...

Sit...would you please give some suggestions that might help us all along with this knowledge?  Thanks much, J

Janus

Not everyone, in fact most will not have PTSD from benzos - I did not think I did until many years later and getting too tired and a bit of stress put me back into the abyss. The only caution I have is to watch CAREFULLY for signs of stress and take very good care of a nervous system that has been hit hard by chemicals.

Since the CNS works on a threshold it will only give out subtle signs before going into a breakdown. Should you ever feel anything like the old symptoms - stop you life, rest more and remove all stress.

Sit

Hey Sit, thanks for the info...every bit helps.  Can you think of ways that might help the members, especially those going through tough times, so that their cns recovers a little more fully...little insights you have gained along the way, little things that might help whilst going through wd.  Seems like so many wd symptoms are those of anxiety which do cause stress...and mimic so many diseases that further frighten some .... any insights you think of that might help would be greatly appreciated. 

And there are simply some events that happen in life that we have no control of...which will cause stress...so there are certainly some techniques that might be helpful.  Maybe you can help.

Also was wondering about how to actually manage the anxiety during wd.  We have a number of topics on this issue as you probably well know, but was wondering about your specific insights that would be of great tangible help for some who are tapering.  Thanks so much for your input.  J

Tony

 

That is true, but what is also true for some people is that the brain has a neuronal memory called an engram that imprints every fear and strong emotion we feel.

This is a Scientology term and belief.  Not scientifically proven. 

Tony

 

That is true, but what is also true for some people is that the brain has a neuronal memory called an engram that imprints every fear and strong emotion we feel.

 

This is a Scientology term and belief.  Not scientifically proven. 

Interesting Elaine. I did not know that. We have to be so careful not to just believe what someone says and to verify. Guess I missed the boat on this one because it sounds so reasonable.

Tony

 

That is true, but what is also true for some people is that the brain has a neuronal memory called an engram that imprints every fear and strong emotion we feel.

 

This is a Scientology term and belief.  Not scientifically proven. 

Hi,

It does smack of 'homeopathic water memory' which is complete and utter fantasy. Still, I would like to reserve judgement, as I don't really know what Sit2know means by 'the brain has a neuronal memory called an engram that imprints every fear and strong emotion we feel'. It does sound pseudo-scientific.

I dug this post up andwant everyone to read this post blogand feel positive .

There is hope everyone . Believe in your recovery.

Much love

Lynn

Maybe I should have read it all the way thru. Didnt know it was gonna get Scientology.

But it was nice to hear that message at the top from someone who worked in anxiety field and said people get better

Hi Lynn,

The word engram is not an original Scientology term. 

The definition of engram is "a trace on a cell"...hence cellular memory.  This term is used in other modalities of healing.  I believe there is validity to it.  Trauma can be held in the body...

The question is how to release it...and of course there are many healing "options" out there to do this.  It would be an individual choice.

However, there is also the physiological component of benzo use.  There is no doubt they alter the physical chemistry of the body.  And who knows how long that takes to reverse itself once off the drug...Everyone is different.

archerblue