There’s another benzo withdrawal story on Mad in America: The 99th Mile: When Benzo Withdrawal Meets Parenthood by Melissa Bond.
Melissa recounts that when her Down’s syndrome son was 18 months old and her baby daughter was three months, she consulted a physician because of problems with insomnia and consequent exhaustion. He prescribed 2 mg of Ativan daily, which he increased to 6 mg within six months.
Melissa describes in detail the problems of withdrawal, and the extreme measures she had to take to cope with this.
Whenever I read these kinds of stories, the question that comes to me is: Who do these doctors think they are? How can they imagine that these pills are going to make a positive contribution to someone who’s trying to battle such daunting odds?
It’s essentially the same as saying: “I really can’t do anything for you, but if you drink a pint of whiskey every evening, you’ll sleep fine!”