As mentioned earlier, benzodiazepines are a notoriously dangerous type of drug. These drugs have various effects on the body, including suppressing the respiratory system, heart rate, and blood pressure. Benzos can easily cause overdose simply by themselves, but especially when combined with other drugs, known as polydrug use.A common combination is benzos and alcohol. Drinking alcohol while under the influence of benzodiazepines can result in overdose due to both of these substances being depressants. You may lose consciousness and your ability to breath and maintain a safe heart rate/blood pressure.Benzos are also often overprescribed. This means that more prescriptions for benzos are given by doctors to patients who may not necessarily need them. With more pills in circulation, they more easily fall into the wrong hands.As a result, there has been a rapid increase in the number of people struggling with benzodiazepine addiction. It’s important for you and your loved ones to understand how powerful and potentially hazardous these drugs can be, especially due to their recent glorification in pop culture.In recent years, the number of people suffering from benzodiazepine addiction has greatly increased. This increase is illustrated in the recent benzodiazepine statistics circulating throughout the United States. Read on to see just how common and severe benzodiazepine addiction is:
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in 2015 9,000 individuals died as a result of benzodiazepine overdose.
Benzodiazepine addiction treatment admissions have tripled from 1998 to 2008 according to BMED Report.
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey determined that within the 17 years between 1996 and 2013, the number of U.S. adults with benzodiazepine prescriptions grew by one-third from 8.1 million to 13.5 million people.