Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-15T23:56:17.221Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Depression following withdrawal from long-term benzodiazepine use: a report of four cases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Dele Olajide
Affiliation:
Psychopharmacology Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Malcolm Lader*
Affiliation:
Psychopharmacology Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Professor Malcolm Lader, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.

Synopsis

Depression following withdrawal from long- or short-term use of benzodiazepines is not uncommon, yet it is under-reported in the benzodiazepine withdrawal literature. Four cases of depressive illness supervening during benzodiazepine withdrawal are reported. Depression may, it is suggested, be an integral part of the benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome.

Type
Brief Communication
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Dysken, M. W. & Carlyle, H. C. (1977). Diazepam withdrawal psychosis: a case report. American Journal of Psychiatry 134, 573.Google ScholarPubMed
Findley, J. D., Robinson, W. W. & Peregrino, L. (1972). Addiction to secobarbital and chlordiazepoxide in the rhesus monkey by means of a self-infusion preference procedure. Psychopharmacologia 26, 93114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gray, J. A., Holt, L. & McNaughton, N. (1983). Clinical implications of the experimental pharmacology of the benzodiazepines. In The Benzodiazepines: From Molecular Biology to Clinical Practice (ed. Costa, E.), pp. 147171. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Hallstrom, C. & Lader, M. H. (1981). Withdrawal phenomena in patients on high and normal doses of diazepam. International Pharmacopsychiatry 16, 235244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanna, S. M. (1972). A case of oxazepam (Serenid D) dependence. British Journal of Psychiatry 120, 443445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haskell, D. (1975). Withdrawal of diazepam. Journal of the American Medical Association 233, 135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hollister, L. E., Motzenbecker, F. P. & Degan, R. O. (1961). Withdrawal reaction from chlordiazepoxide (‘ Librium ’). Psychopharmacologia 2, 6368.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lader, M. & Petursson, H. (1983). Rational use of anxiolytic/sedative drugs. Drugs 25, 514528.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maletzky, B. M. & Klotter, J. (1976). Addiction to diazepam. The International Journal of the Addictions 11, 95115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marks, J. (1978). The Benzodiazepines. Use, Overuse, Misuse, Abuse. MTP Press: Lancaster.Google Scholar
Mohler, H. & Richards, J. G. (1983). Benzodiazepine receptors in the central nervous system. In The Benzodiazepines: From Molecular Biology to Clinical Practice (ed. Costa, E.), pp. 93116. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Petursson, H. & Lader, M. H. (1981). Withdrawal from long-term benzodiazepine treatment. British Medical Journal 283, 643645.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schöpf, J. (1983). Withdrawal phenomena after long-term administration of benzodiazepines. A review of recent investigations. Pharmacopsychiatry 16, 18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thiebot, M. H. & Soubrie, P. (1983). Behaviour pharmacology of the benzodiazepines. In The Benzodiazepines: From Molecular Biology to Clinical Practice (ed. Costa, E.), pp. 6792. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Tyrer, P., Rutherford, D. & Huggett, T. (1981). Benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms and propranolol. Lancet i, 520522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyrer, P., Owen, R. & Dawling, S. (1983). Gradual withdrawal of diazepam after long-term therapy. Lancet iii, 14021406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woody, G. E., O'Brien, C. P. & Greenstein, R. (1975). Misuse and abuse of diazepam: an increasingly common medical problem. The International Journal of the Addictions 10, 843848.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization (1974). Expert Committee on Drug Dependence: Twentieth Report. WHO Technical Report Series No. 551.Google Scholar