Avoiding Cognitive Impairment From Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Requires Careful Detox

There’s a reason addicts of benzodiazepines might be particularly hesitant to undergo treatment: the withdrawal effects from benzos can be much more severe when stopped cold, as opposed to slowly reducing dependence. Withdrawal symptoms from abruptly ceasing benzodiazepine usage manifest themselves as heightened versions of the symptoms for which the medication was intended to counteract in the first place.

This can make a user frightened and very apprehensive about going through a healthy, clinical withdrawal, particularly if an abrupt withdrawal in the past has resulted in anguish, fear, and pain. Whether that past withdrawal was the result of being cut off from their supply or was an honest attempt towards sobriety, the intense suffering of withdrawal can stifle any future motivation towards getting clean.

Benzodiazepines enhance the function of GABA—a neurotransmitter in the brain that slows, or calms, the speed of messages between cells. Even after short-term abuse, the brain begins to adapt to the new, prolonged transmission times. Since many who begin taking benzodiazepines are being treated for anxiety, a disorder in which brain cell impulses are moving much faster than normal, this can initially feel quite relaxing; however, the potential cognitive dangers from a withdrawal vastly negate any calming feeling.

Imagine you’re at the edge of a large, once quick-moving river that has been dammed. Suddenly, a rock comes loose, and then another. Before you know it, an immense cascade of water breaks through the dam completely—and the rushing of water that ensues is engulfing, taking other rocks and bits of the bank with it, spilling up on the sides and taking small trees in its grasp.

This same effect happens with an abrupt withdrawal from benzodiazepines: the brain, in trying to revert back to its former state of functioning, is confused by its imbalance. In a desperate attempt to make up for lost time, it begins flooding with receptors that have the opposite function of GABA—ones like glutamate, which stimulate impulse transmissions—and the overload can cause permanent damage and dysfunction. As psychoactives, benzodiazepines also make the users run the risk of permanent flashbacks, or the immediate and unexpected temporary return to a dysfunctional state (something also representative of LSD users). In the worst of cases, it has been shown to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease—an incurable, debilitating, and heartbreaking affliction—by astounding percentages.

While slowly reducing dependence is necessary in any case, the longer the addiction was, the more painful and potentially cognitively-threatening the recovery process can be. Knowing that treatment could perhaps be more difficult than anticipated means that as a friend or family member, your support and love are absolutely crucial in propelling your loved one along in the process.