Benzodiazepines make more and more adolescents addicted

Anything taken in excess is harmful to health, let alone medication. A national study co-authored by researchers from Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA, is raising the alarm over the sharp increase in the number of teenagers overdosed with the common anxiolytic drug benzodiazepines over the past decade. According to the study, published in the journal Clinical Toxicology, the number of adolescents aged 12 to 18 years reported to the US Poison Control Centers increased by 54% between 2000 and 2015.

Intentional abuse on the rise

An analysis of 296,838 cases of exposure to benzodiazepines in young people under the age of 18 found that while the cases of exposure in children under the age of 6 decreased, the exposure rate for adolescents increased from 17.7 cases per 100,000 children in 2000 to 27.3 cases per 100,000 children in 2015. Researchers from different establishments collected data from the National Poison Data System. The figures also show an increase in intentional maltreatment cases, which accounted for almost half of all exposure cases reported in 2015 from misuse or attempted suicide.

Diane Calello, general manager and medical director of the New Jersey Poison Control Center and one of the authors of the report, said that “if a benzodiazepine overdose is not usually fatal, the study shows an increase in the number of adolescents consuming or more substances, which increases the severity of the effects, including death or life-threatening symptoms that affect long-term health. ”

What is of great concern is that approximately 70,000 children go to the emergency room each year due to an overdose of medication, and that almost 12% of these visits require a hospital stay. Diane Calello attributes the poisoning cases in adults and children to the greater availability of prescription drugs.

The problem of benzodiazepines

“These results are linked to the increase in prescriptions for benzodiazepines in the United States over the past decade. Healthcare providers should be aware of the increased prevalence of benzodiazepine exposure to help limit unnecessary prescription. Parents and caregivers should be counseled on the proper use, storage and disposal of these high-risk drugs, ”says Diane Calello.

Benzodiazepine delivery should be taken seriously, as recent research shows that adolescents who use substances have abnormal brain function related to the volume of the brain structure, the quality of the white matter and the activation of tasks cognitive.

Benzodiazepines have a strongly calming effect on the central nervous system. Therefore, they are prescribed for people suffering from anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, panic attacks, seizures and other mental health problems. Despite the high likelihood of addiction, it is commonly prescribed in the United States. In addition to using the drug for medical reasons, adolescents often abuse it and end up becoming addicted to it. They are also likely to remain dependent there as an adult.

Even alone, the drug is highly addictive. Teens exacerbate the effects by using it in combination with alcohol and marijuana. One of the most serious effects of benzodiazepine abuse in adolescents is anterograde amnesia, caused by the consumption of a large amount of this drug. Affected teens have a “black hole” period, that is, a loss of memory during which they do not remember the period in question. Although it is different from loss of consciousness, it makes them vulnerable to a wide range of dangers.

Other effects include depression, mood swings, aggression, blurred vision, poor performance at work and school, muscle cramps, headaches, poor memory and addiction to drugs. other substances.

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