Mother’s little helper: America’s love affair with anti-anxiety drugs

Interesting little history of how benzos became a hit in the United States in Newsweek ~~ America’s Long Love Affair with Anti-Anxiety Drugs:. It’s really not a great article as far as I can tell but interesting nonetheless. It’s an interview with Andrea Tone who wrote a book called The Age of Anxiety. 

The idea of the patient driven drugging thesis bugs me. If we’re not given real alternatives and have no idea that what is being given to us is hard-core addictive it just seems to be blaming the patient too much–especially since the author is writing about 50 years ago when we had no access to information other than that which we received from doctors…so please read this with a critical eye.

An excerpt from the introduction, before the interview:

America’s all-time favorite pill isn’t for birth control, according to historian Andrea Tone. It’s a potent little tranquilizer called Miltown, after Milltown, the New Jersey hamlet where it was manufactured in 1955. Despite virtually zero advertising, the release of the original “mother’s little helper” set off a consumer stampede. By 1957, Americans had filled 36 million prescriptions for Miltown, more than a billion pills had been manufactured and these so-called “peace pills” accounted for one third of all prescriptions. The drug’s popularity has fallen off a cliff since the 1960s, when studies found that it caused psychological dependence. But it nonetheless launched the age of psychiatric cure-alls. Dozens of “lifestyle drugs” (like Xanax and Paxil, which also treat anxiety) have followed in its wake, raising a perennial question: do we actually need these medications, or does Big Pharma push them on us?

Critics argue that the push is more like an aggressive shove. Drug companies spent more than $4 billion on syrupy and suggestive consumer ads last year, up from less than $1 billion in 1997. And more than three quarters of that cash went for television ads, which critics have blamed for trivializing the serious decision to take prescription drugs. Last year House Democrats tried (and failed) to pass a bill banning TV ads during a drug’s first three years on the market. . But historian Tone differs with those who blame our pop-a-pill mentality on marketing hype and harried doctors too eager to write prescriptions. In “The Age of Anxiety” (Basic Books), her smart and crisp history of American tranquilizer use, the McGill University professor finds that demand for Miltown—the first lifestyle drug—was surprisingly patient driven. (rest of article here)

Miltown wasn’t a benzo but it was marketed and used in much the same way. Benzos remain the Miltown of our age. 

Benzodiazepines are prescribed primarily for anxiety and/or sleep issues. They are a highly problematic class of drug. Most people are not told the risks involved when they are first prescribed. This page provides information on the risks of taking benzodiazepines. It also offers information and resources for freeing oneself from benzodiazepine dependence.

For much more information about benzodiazepines and how one might withdraw see here

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