Benzodiazepines

Question 1

What are Benzodiazepines and what do they do?

Answer 1

• Benzodiazepines are anti-anxiety drugs that aim to control the action of neurotransmitters. Examples are Valium and Xanax.
• BZ drugs reduce the activity of Central Nervous System and reduce brain arousal. It aims to reduce blood pressure and heart rate.
• Enhance the activity of neurotransmitter GABA which slows down the firing on neurons and makes the person less anxious and calmer.
• Reduces psychological activity in the body.

Question 2

How does it work?

Answer 2

• BZ drugs bind to the GABA receptor sites on post synaptic neuron which increases the flow of chloride ions into post synaptic neuron.
• Chloride ions make it more difficult for the neuron to be stimulated by other neurotransmitter, thus slowing down it’s activity and making the patient calmer.
• Neurons in brain become less active.
• BZ reduces anxiety that OCD patients experience when they have obsessive thoughts.
• BZ also decreases serotonin so they are less happy and more likely to be depressed.

Question 3

Strength: Quick and effective

Answer 3

• BZ drugs work quickly and effectively to cure OCD symptoms compared to other treatments like CBT.
• BZ drugs reduce anxiety levels and OCD symptoms in a short period of time so the patient will see some immediate benefits of relief.

Question 4

Weakness: Side effects

Answer 4

• If BZ drugs are used for a long period of time, several unwanted side effects can appear such as drowsiness, depression and unpredictable interactions with alcohol.
• Patients have a high chance of being involved in accidents.
• BZ are renowned for being highly addictive and also cause increased aggression and long term memory impairments.
• Due to the side effects, patients often stop taking the meds.

Question 5

Weakness: Dependant

Answer 5

• Psychologists found that long term users of BZ become very dependent on the drug.
• Sudden withdrawal of drug leads to a return of high levels of anxiety and OCD symptoms.
• There is also a problem with tolerance or drug escalation whereby patients need to take large doses of the drug to reduce symptoms.