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The source for the data below is the OECD Health Statistics 2018, released by the OECD in June 2018 and updated on 8 November 2018. [1]The unit of measurement used by the OECD is defined daily dose (DDD), defined as "the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used on its main indication in adults". [2]
Long-acting benzodiazepines with long-acting active metabolites, such as diazepam and chlordiazepoxide, are often prescribed for benzodiazepine or alcohol withdrawal as well as for anxiety if constant dose levels are required throughout the day. Shorter-acting benzodiazepines are often preferred for insomnia due to their lesser hangover effect.
Withdrawal symptoms can lead to continued use of benzodiazepines for many years, long after the original reason for taking benzodiazepines has passed. Many patients know that the benzodiazepines no longer work for them but are unable to discontinue benzodiazepines because of withdrawal symptoms. [39]
Benzodiazepine drugs are substituted 1,4-benzodiazepines, although the chemical term can refer to many other compounds that do not have useful pharmacological properties. Different benzodiazepine drugs have different side groups attached to this central structure.
A 1991 study indicated that diazepam, in particular, had a greater abuse liability among people who were drug abusers than did many of the other benzodiazepines. Some of the available data also suggested that lorazepam and alprazolam are more diazepam-like in having relatively high abuse liability, while oxazepam, halazepam, and possibly ...
[42] [43] The effectiveness of taking benzodiazepines along with antipsychotic medication is unknown, and more research is needed to determine if benzodiazepines are more effective than antipsychotics when urgent sedation is required. [43] Hyperekplexia [44] Many forms of parasomnia and other sleep disorders are treated with clonazepam. [45]
Effects of long-term benzodiazepine use may include disinhibition, impaired concentration and memory, depression, [19] [20] as well as sexual dysfunction. [6] [21] The long-term effects of benzodiazepines may differ from the adverse effects seen after acute administration of benzodiazepines. [22]
In a 1983 study, only 5% of patients who abruptly ceased taking long-acting benzodiazepines after less than eight months demonstrated withdrawal symptoms, but 43% who had been taking them for more than eight months did. With alprazolam, a short-acting benzodiazepine, taken for eight weeks, 65% of patients experienced significant rebound anxiety.