Benzodiazepines are a powerful class of psychoactive drugs primarily used to treat anxiety, insomnia, seizures, muscle spasms and alcohol withdrawal. They were approved for treatment in the 1960s by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and became widely popular with the release of diazepam, commercially known as Valium. Benzodiazepines are effective in helping people who suffer from debilitating conditions such as anxiety and insomnia, but they also carry serious health risks.
Memory
Benzodiazepines act as central nervous system depressants and this can affect how a person learns and remembers. Benzodiazepines work both as a sedative and an amnesic, affecting short-term memory, especially the ability to recall specific events according to time, place and significance. The abuse of benzodiazepines can seriously impair a person's memory in regard to work, school and family. In the April 2004 issue of Cognitive Therapy and Research, researchers found that anxiety patients taking benzodiazepines experienced significant memory performance deficits compared to non-medicated patients. In higher doses, benzodiazepines can induce a much stronger sense of amnesia. According to the December 2005 issue of Neural Plasticity, benzodiazepines are so effective at causing short-term amnesia, that they are often used in pretreatment surgery and also misused in the carrying out of robberies and sexual crimes.
Emotions and Cognition
Benzodiazepines also affect a user's emotions and cognition, especially when abused at doses beyond a normal threshhold. Emotional side effects may be affected by paradoxical disinhibition such as excitement, irritability, hostility and aggression. Users may also become depressed and feel emotionally empty. When a person's cognitive abilities become blunted, she may show irrational responses to her surroundings and may have inappropriate reactions to stimuli. In the February 2005 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, a study found that benzodiazepines affected cognition negatively regarding visuospatial ability, speed of processing and verbal learning. After long-term use of benzodiazepines, patients' cognitive abilities rarely returned back to full capacity.
Pregnancy
Benzodiazepines can also have serious negative side effects during pregnancy. Benzodiazepines easily pass through the placenta and have the same effect on the mother as they do on the developing fetus. In addition, newborn babies often go through difficult withdrawal symptoms after they are born as benzodiazepines are highly addictive. In the November 2007 issue of Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, a study found that maternal use of benzodiazepines increased the risk for preterm birth, low birth weights, congenital malformations and intestinal problems. Mothers on benzodiazepines should minimize their dose or stop taking the medication altogether.
References
- Cognitive Therapy and Research; Benzodiazepine Use Associated with Decreased Memory for Psychoeducation Material in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Panic Disorder; Henny Westra; April 2004
- Neural Plasticity; Memory Effects of Benzodiazepines: Memory Stages and Types Versus Binding-Site Subtypes; Miroslav Savic; December 2005
- Journal of Clinical Psychiatry; The Effects of Benzodiazepines on Cognition; Dr. Samantha Stewart; February 2005
- Pharmacoepidemiological Drug Safety; Use of Benzodiazepines and Benzodiazepine Receptor Agonists During Pregnancy: Neonatal Outcome and Congenital Malformations; Dr. Birgitta Wikner; November 2007
- Biochemical Society Transactions: Role of GABA Receptors in Cognition
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