How is the treatment in the detoxification of benzodiazepines?

Benzodiazepines are relatively frequently used psychoactive drugs. in the field of psychiatry, and make up a group of drugs known, among other things, for having replaced barbiturates, which are they were widely used decades ago due to their anxiolytic and anticonvulsant effects but had a high risk of generating very harmful side effects.

However, although benzodiazepines have effects similar to barbiturates and their use is safer, this does not mean that their use does not involve certain risks. In fact, this class of substances are also used as drugs outside the clinical context, and many people become addicted to this product.

But in addition, it must be taken into account that benzodiazepines is one of the drugs whose withdrawal syndrome can become intense, which is capable of causing death. In other words, trying to overcome benzos addiction can kill the person who has developed this pathology if you do not have medical assistance in the context of the intervention therapy. To better understand the characteristics of this phenomenon, in this article we will see

how is the treatment and detoxification of addiction to benzodiazepines and control of its withdrawal syndrome.

• Related article: "Benzodiazepines (psychopharmaceutical): uses, effects and risks"

What are benzodiazepines?

As we anticipated, benzodiazepines are a group of psychotropic medications used above all for their ability to counteract the effects of certain pathologies associated with excessive activation of the nervous system, such as anxiety disorders, insomnia, spasms, epilepsy or bipolar disorder in its phase manic Thus, they are considered to be part of the anxiolytic and hypnotic-sedative psychoactive drugs (although its therapeutic effects depend in part on the amount administered).

However, as often happens with products created from medical research, benzodiazepines have their facet as a drug for recreational use. Unfortunately, products such as alprazolam are widely used without a prescription due to the transitory feeling of relaxation and well-being they generate, and addiction does not take long to consolidate.

This dependency process emerges when the brain reward system of the person who consumes the benzodiazepine learns to "adapt" to the presence of this substance in the nervous system, which interacts with neurons and generates a chain reaction in them.

In this way, in a short time, the brain's reward system is restructured to give full priority to the need to consume that kind of food again. drugs: the neurons learn to interconnect in another way so that the benzos become what motivates the person, what directs their her actions. And as with all addictions, this "reset" of the brain becomes more and more extreme, while the person increasingly needs to consume more and more frequently the drug to feel satiated.

That is why when trying to stop using benzodiazepines, the most common is that the experience of spending many hours in a row without taking this drug causes a strong imbalance in the functioning of all those neurons that work in a coordinated way, having adapted to the presence of the drug in the organism. And in some cases, the withdrawal syndrome caused by this is so intense that the death of the person can occur if it is not handled carefully.

How is withdrawal syndrome treated in benzodiazepine detoxification?

Although overcoming addiction to benzodiazepines is complex, it is not impossible, far from it. However, it is essential to have psychiatric assistance at least during the first stage of treatment, which is known as detoxification phase, which is when the most intense phase of the withdrawal syndrome occurs and there is a risk of cardiorespiratory arrest. Let's see what are the characteristics of this process.

1. Information and psychoeducation phase

In the first phase, the patient is informed about the characteristics of the addiction that he suffers, the consequences of not stopping using the drug, and the implications of the therapy process that he is going to start. If possible, family members are also spoken to so that they collaborate as much as possible and doubts are resolved, among other things, to combat certain erroneous beliefs that could hinder the progress of treatment if they are not questioned.

• Related article: "Psychoeducation in psychological therapy"

2. Possible change of benzodiazepine

As the drug withdrawal process must be gradual to avoid the appearance of very severe symptoms or even the risk of death, sometimes it is chosen to substitute the type of benzodiazepine that the patient had been taking during the consolidation of the addiction, opting for other substances of the same family, but that due to their properties are somewhat safer or facilitate the advancement of treatment and management of symptoms in the syndrome of abstinence.

• You may be interested: "How is the treatment of dual pathology?"

3. Establishment of guidelines for the gradual withdrawal of drug use

In this phase, the process of gradual withdrawal of the drug is planned, reducing the amount and spacing the shots, and the patient is informed of what the times will be from that moment.

4. Application of the detox program

This is the core part of detoxification, in which the gradual withdrawal of the drug is supervised and the person is helped to physically and psychologically manage the discomfort caused by the withdrawal syndrome. It must be borne in mind that although the risk of suffering serious health alterations has been greatly reduced, it is still common for significant alterations to appear, such as:

• Headache
• tremors
• Elevation of blood presure
• high anxiety
• light sensitivity
• dizziness
• Nausea
• Weightloss
• Vertigo
• Blurry vision

Given this, the patient is also helped to prevent and counteract trap thoughts that may arise in your mind, which are ideas and images capable of sabotaging treatment through relapse into consumption (in this case, consuming at odd hours or in amounts that are too high) to avoid this discomfort in the short term.

• Related article: "The 8 types of Psychiatry (and what mental illnesses they treat)"

Do you want to start an addiction treatment?

If you are looking for therapeutic help to overcome an addiction, contact us.

In Llaurant la Llum we specialize in the treatment of addictions with or without drug use, and we have a fully equipped residential module in which We offer medical assistance at all times through a detoxification program for drugs such as benzodiazepines, opioids, alcohol, and plus. You will find us in Picassent, Valencia.