Prescription drug overdoses are often associated with opioid painkillers. You may be shocked to learn that prescription drug overdoses can lead to death. Overdoses of anti-anxiety medications are increasingMany mental health professionals are left wondering why this is happening.
The Journal of the American Medical Association published a new study. American Journal of Public Health Shows More Americans are taking too much Common Anti-anxiety medication benzodiazepineXanax and Valium are two examples. The number of prescriptions that were filled The number of people who voted for the referendum tripled between 1996-2013The number of overdoses Quadrupled During the same period.
Dr. Marcus Bachhuber, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, was the lead of the study.
“Overdoses of benzodiazepines have increased at an even faster rate than prescriptions, which indicates that people have taken them in a more risky manner over the years.”
More than 5% of Americans fill a prescription for benzodiazepine every year. These addictive drugs are used to treat anxiety, mood disorders, and insomnia. In 2013, 23,000 people were killed.
Combining benzodiazepines with other drugs or alcohol can lead to abuse. Depress your respiratory system Bachhuber said that sometimes it can be fatal.
Bachhuber’s group looked at large health surveys in order to identify trends in the use of benzodiazepines. They wrote:
“Overdose deaths due to benzodiazepines rose more than fourfold, from 0.58 per 100,000 to 3.07 per 100,000 adults. This rate did not seem to have increased after 2010. The number of adults who have filled benzodiazepine prescriptions has increased by 67 percent between 1996 and 2013. It went from 8.1 million to 13.5million.
Researchers also observed a similar increase in prescriptions for pills.
Said Bachhuber
“If we are to solve the prescription drug crisis, it is not enough that we focus only on opioids. We must think about other drugs like benzodiazepines.
The authors of the study warn that anti-anxiety medications are being prescribed too often and recommend doctors look into alternative treatments such as talk therapy.
Read: 7 Natural Anti-Anxiety Herbs To Reduce Stress
We Previously reported Academics and public health directors are urging the Food and Drug Administration to issue a “black-box” warning about benzodiazepines. This is the strongest warning the agency has, due to the drug’s addictive nature and the dangers of combining them with other drugs.
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