Is There a Crisis in Overuse of Medication for Troups ?
August 10, 2008 11:13 pm Crises, Miscellaneous
I was pretty concerned when I read this Time article about soldiers being medicated for burnout or compassion fatigue or stress and many other psychological concerns.
How can any thinking human being be in a battle zone, risking their life and seeing others killed not be distressed? We are fooling outself if we think this is possible. To think that an antidepressant will help this kind of sadness and distress is just naive. I am sure the prescribers know better.
My bigger concern in this article is the mention of Clonazepam (Klonopin) for anxiety and Ambien for sleep.
Prescribing these drugs is asking for trouble. Persons who take Benzodiazepines like Clonazepam are often in a “fog”. It’s the “new age Valium”.
Clonazepam can cause memory loss, decreased self control, slowed thinking, poor decision making and detachment. Rest assured these are not RARE side effects but happen routinely with these medications. Clonazepam is a particular worry because it can stay in the body and have effects for more then three days.
The warnings on Clonazepam tells you not to drive (due to slowed reflexes, decisions and lethergy). They do not say however not to carry a gun or fight in a war !
Ambien is a sleeping pill that is a sedative. It is less troublesome then Clonazepam because the drug usually lasts about 10 hours, but it is not uncommon to have daytime drowsiness
Some rarer side effects that are very troubling can include changes in thinking and/or behavior such as:
- more aggressive behavior than normal
- confusion
- agitation
- hallucinations
- worsening of depression
Any use of drugs or alcohol can enhance all the effects of both these medications. The other worry is that long term use can cause dependence and may result in depressive feelings.
It is my opinion that the use of these drugs makes a dangerous situation even worse. Our boys at least need to be educated about what these drugs can do to them.
What are your thoughts?
