Anxiolytics are drugs used to combat anxiety. They are also called “pill alcohol,” perhaps referring to the addictive potential and ease we have to over-purchase and consume them.
Today the anxiolytics sleep on many bedside tables and eat very often, the truth is that we live in a society in which drug dependence is common, being the key (and comfortable) resource that aims to solve our problems.
- Anxiety cannot be avoided.
- But it can be reduced.
- The problem in managing anxiety is to return it to normal levels and then use this normal anxiety as a stimulus to increase perception.
- Alertness and willingness to live.
- -Rollo May-.
Currently we know how and where anxiolytics (benzodiazepines) act more than other drugs to combat psychiatric or psychological problems, since they promote the action of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA on its receptor.
The GABA neurotransmitter, present in more than 30% of neural synapses, performs the function of interfering with the electrical impulses of neurons, so what GABA actually does is decrease excitability or neural activity.
The receptors on which benzodiazepines act are not only involved in anxiety processes, but also in processes such as memory or motor coordination. Therefore, the action is not specific and the consumption of these anxiolytics has many side effects.
Anxiety is the mind that goes faster than life, but the truth is that as an emotional response it is neither good nor bad in itself, this becomes pathological when it severely limits us for a while, diminishing our experiences and growth.
In this regard, Dubin (2009) raised the following reasoning: “Should we be ashamed of anxiety attacks?I don’t see seizures as analogous to the physical reaction of having to vomit. Vomiting is neither good nor bad. This happens and is ” It’s usually used to rid your stomach of harmful contaminants. But you’d never want to throw up in public, would you? The first thing you would do if you start to feel nauseous is to go to the nearest bathroom to avoid any embarrassment. it’s not something you’d like to face with others. Are crises similar?
Constantly used pills serve as a lifetime painkiller, anesthetating the senses and thoughts. They serve to get rid of pain without addressing the root cause. So we disconnected the fire alarm, but we didn’t put out the fire.
Of course, it is not healthy; the use and abuse of these drugs does not free us from their effect. Turns out that, in some cases, the intensity of discomfort arising from anxiety should be?pharmacological level to be mitigated?
However, one idea is that drugs are not the only treatment, when we suffer from anxiety, we need to rehabilitate our minds, relearn and follow up.
It is therefore essential that psychiatry and psychology work together, to avoid dependence on drugs (which are certainly elevated and powerful) and to completely solve the problem.