January 2007 GCR Newsletter - Xanax Addiction

Xanax addiction is too often the end result for people who turn to the CNS depressing drug for help with negative symptoms of anxiety or depression.

A member of the benzodiazepine family of drugs, xanax works as a central nervous system depressant and essential slows whole brain activity levels down. When this brain activity reducing drug is used therapeutically it can greatly reduce experienced symptoms of panic, impending doom, anxiety and depression. This CNS slowing also induces a very pleasurable state of calm and wellbeing, and because it creates such strong psychotropic effects, xanax use can easily progress to xanax abuse, and with abuse, xanax addiction very easily occurs.

Xanax addiction occurs both psychologically and physically. With increasing usage comes tolerance and a need to increase the dosage to get the same experienced effects. Unfortunately, as people up their dosages, continually chasing feelings of calm and well being, resultant dependency increases and the difficulty of eventually breaking a xanax addiction grows.

One of the greatest challenges that patients with xanax addictions face is that when they try to stop using the drug, and break free from xanax addiction, the symptoms of anxiety, panic or depression that prompted the initial use of the drug return, and are often far worse than they were before medications were used.

Xanax slows the brain down, and as the brain always seeks to restore equilibrium, it introduces compensatory measures in an attempt to neutralize the brain slowing effects of the xanax. This is why with tolerance xanax addicts need to take ever increasing dosages of the medication to feel the effects, and is also what makes withdrawal symptoms so unpleasant and severe.

With cessation of xanax usage, there is nothing inhibiting brain activity, and because the brain has compensated for the continual presence of the xanax (In effect accelerating activity), without anything external slowing things down the brain races uncontrollably. This induces feelings of panic and anxiety as well as other very uncomfortable side effects, and also a risk of dangerous seizures or convulsions.

Patients with a xanax addiction will almost always need professional drug treatment, and a medically supervised period of detox to break free safely from xanax addiction.