You've been taking your prescription medication for anxiety for a number of weeks. You feel fine, stable, and happy. The doctor believes its time to stop using the medication. The problem is deep inside you want to keep taking your pills. You feel scared that perhaps you'll be without them, that it will be impossible to cope without them...or maybe you've become addicted.

Drug withdrawal syndrome is a group of symptoms manifested by addicts who stop using drugs after a pattern of continuous and excessive abuse.

Benzodiazepines:  For Good and For Bad

There are not many drugs that have given so much hope and promise to those wrought with psychological difficulties, like anxiety, insomnia, bi-polar disorder, depression, and more and yet insidiously has caused so much addiction and damage. Benzodiazepines or Benzos for short are a psychoactive family of drugs used to treat many "psychological problems."

Driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol leads to nothing that can be called positive and unfortunately, often leads to devastation and death.  Of course traffic check points and random alcohol tests on the highways can help reduce the occurrence of substance-related traffic accidents and fatalities, but the significant changes have to take place at the individual level regarding drug and alcohol use and abuse and driving.

At first Benzos seem to work and to the person who uses them only for the set time they are prescribed for, is usually able to stop usage when it is needed. The problems with Benzodiazepines arise when the user keeps on taking the medication far beyond the prescribed dosage and time period.

The chances of this are higher than one would expect since Benzodiazepines are psychoactive and can ensnare one prone to addiction and even someone who is psychologically imbalanced into the net of Benzodiazepine Addiction.

Why is Drugged Driving Hazardous?  Drugs act on the brain and can alter perception, cognition, attention, balance, coordination, reaction time, and other faculties required for safe driving. The effects of specific drugs of abuse differ depending on their mechanisms of action, the amount consumed, the history of the user, and other factors.

How To Tell If Someone Has A Benzodiazepine Addiction

Like any other substance addiction a person will eventually "spill the beans" themselves by hitting bottom. The important thing is to identify an addiction before an addict has reached "bottom." It is important to understand that Benzodiazepine Addiction in many ways is no different than any other prescription drug addiction. In all prescription drug addictions there is a rapid increase in dosage and an extension past the alloted time that the drug was prescribed. Addicts usually have a preoccupation with their pills, often time obsessing over them.

In a large study of almost 3,400 fatally injured drivers from 3 Australian states (Victoria, New South Wales, and Western Australia) between 1990 and 1999, drugs other than alcohol were present in 26.7 percent of the cases. These included cannabis (13.5 percent), opioids (4.9 percent), stimulants (4.1 percent), benzodiazepines (4.1 percent), and other psychotropic drugs (2.7 percent). Almost 10 percent of the cases involved both alcohol and drugs.

Benzodiazepines diverge from other prescription drugs in the sense that they are psychoactive. They are designed specifically to deal with many types of brain imbalances, often times helping to reset a person's psychology. Despite this positive aspect, it is on this point which makes it troublesome for the potential addict. Signs that are special to Benzodiazepine Addiction include: memory impairment, drowsiness, loss of concentration and motor skills, and slurred speech.

Ending A Benzodiazepine Addiction

There are many ways to end a Benzodiazepine Addiction. Of course there are the usual methods, involving medical treatment, along side addiction rehab and psychological care. Despite these methods, there are others, uniquely tailored to Benzodiazepine Addiction. One such method is drawn from what is known as the Ashton Manual. The Manual is named after it's author, Professor Chrystal Heather Ashton of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England who has had first hand experience running a Benzodiazepine withdrawal clinic from 1982-1994.

When a person is addicted, he or she no longer takes alcohol or drugs to have fun or to get high.  Rather, the addicted person needs the alcohol or the drugs in order to function on a daily basis.  In fact, in many instances, the addicted person's everyday life centers around satisfying his or her need for the substance on which he or she is hooked.

The manual advocates working with a doctor to self taper the doses of Benzodiazepine connected medication. This method eases the withdrawal symptoms and prevents a complete breakdown in the withdrawal process. The most important thing for any addict is to approach a trained addiction professional for help in any avenue of addiction recovery they choose.

Although Benzodiazepine Addiction seems hard to identify and control, with proper information and awareness Benzodiazepine Addiction as all other addictions can be controlled and conquered.