Posted by erik98225 on November 18, 2006, at 13:10:41
In reply to Re: Benzos and AA (vent), posted by friendobillnbob on November 18, 2006, at 10:34:21
Using a prescribed med in the manner it's prescribed does not make you "unsober". As you said, the program is called ALCOHOLICS Anonymous. The members who are in there for other drug use have been using unprescribed drugs.
Benzos and SSRI's are not "addictive" medications in the true sense. Calling them addictive results from a distortion of the definition of addiction.
ABUSE = Using a drug in a manner other than directed.
ADDICTION = Comuplsively abusing a drug despite knowledge that the abuse is causing medical, legal, or relationship problems.
TOLERANCE = An expected outcome of long-term drug use, in which increasingly larger doses are needed to get the desired effect.
DEPENDENCE = An expected outcome of long-term drug use, in which the abrupt cessation of the drug will cause withdrawal symptoms.
Tolerance and dependence are not ADDICTION.
For example, a diabetic will need insulin and is dependent on it. Diabetics may need to increase their insulin doses over time. However, we don't say that a diabetic has become addicted.
A person who takes clonazepam or paroxetine or alprazolam is also dependent on the drug. If they stop suddenly, they are going to feel awful and perhaps experience serious problems. That is not addiction either.
It is possible to be addicted to benzos, but that is always characterized by abuse of it first. This would mean taking benzos in a situation where it wasn't prescribed, i.e. because it made you feel high (alprazolam) or you abused another drug and wanted to come down off it with benzos. This would be abuse, and wouldn't necessarily be addiction, but could become addiction rather quickly.
If you are taking your medication as prescribed, you are not "ADDICTED" to your medication and you do NOT need to change your AA birthday. I hope this clears things up.
Erik
poster:erik98225
thread:702204
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061117/msgs/704887.html