foolsgold
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Whether looking down at the petrifying ground beneath or up at the seemingly unattainable summit above, panic and anxiety are all too familiar to the avid rock-climber.
Though Matt Samet has worked through difficult, heady climbs and scaled alpine ridges solo, he was unable to escape the abyss of prescription-drug addiction, which began in his teens and almost cost him his life. Valium. Xanax. Klonopin. Whichever benzodiazepine ("benzos") -- prescription tranquilizers -- one can think of, doctors likely prescribed it to Samet in their efforts to help him shake his demons.
But what started as an antidote for intense anxiety led to a lifelong dependency on the drugs. He went from a young, active climber to a man confined to his bed who was even forced to leave his job as an editor at Climbing magazine in 2005.
Even an hour or so off the drugs would plunge him into an agonizing state of dread.
"You know that feeling you get sometimes when you wake up at 3 a.m. and you can't sleep and you just sit there thinking about death?" Samet said. "I felt that horrible, crushing sense of mortal terror all of the time, not just when the pills wore off."
Samet eventually recovered from the crippling addiction and has been living a happy, sober life since 2007. But his journey to recovery was not easy, as the Gunbarrel resident documents in his latest book, "Death Grip: A Climber's Escape From Benzo Madness." It was released Feb. 12 and recently has been on the bestseller lists for hardcover nonfiction at the Boulder Book Store and Barnes & Noble at Crossroads Commons. Samet has a book signing scheduled for April 8 at the Tattered Cover Book Store, 1628 16th St., Denver.
In "Death Grip," Samet describes the challenging and complicated process of recovering from benzos. According to Michael Ferrel, executive director at Northstar Transitions, a Boulder-based private substance-abuse rehabilitation and mentoring program, benzodiazepine recovery
Climbing The Inside Passage on Boulder's Flying Flatiron pales in comparison to Matt Samet's battle with addiction. (Matt Samet Collection /Courtesy photo)
requires the use of other anxiety-reducing drugs, "or else the anxiety will become overwhelming."
Samet struggled immensely with being constantly prescribed more of the very drug he was addicted to.
"All the doctors ever did was put me on more drugs, which made me sicker," Samet said. "To me it's like, you swallow a little bit of rat poison, you go to the hospital, and they give you roach poison."
Disappointed with modern medicine's approach to recovery, Samet sought help from local and online support groups. That's where he met the late Alison Kellagher, a recovered addict and founder of a benzo support group in Boulder. The two become good friends, and she assured Samet he was not an anomaly, that others like them had been able to kick the addiction.
Samet credited his recovery to healthy living, a good support system and strong will. In 2007, he met the woman he eventually would marry, Kristin, five months after taking his last med. Samet was still very sick when they met, so he was up front with Kristin about his addiction.
"She was very accepting from the get-go," Samet said. "I told her on our first date that I couldn't do a lot of things we take for granted, like going on hikes and being in public, but she was still very supportive."
Samet and his wife have a 15-month-old son, Ivan, and they lead a typical family life. Samet continues to climb and still considers it to be a defining part of his life. He also takes an active stand against the over-prescription and abuse of benzos. In "Death Grip," Samet touches on the bigger issue of how the medical community treats benzo addiction.
"I don't think that just because I went through this people shouldn't be able to take these," Samet said. "The problem is that there is no support within the medical community for getting people off if and when they want to go off. They're just sort of yanked off these pills in detox centers, which can be very dangerous."
Samet claims that much of the psychiatric mistreatment he and other benzo patients receive stems from the "arrogance" of doctors. "The change will come when doctors start listening to their patients," he said.
Samet said the main reason he wrote the book was to inspire others who are dealing with benzo addiction.
"For anyone who's going through this or suspects they are, I got better." Samet said. "It's a pretty hopeless situation, but once I broke free (with the passage of) time and coming to terms with what happened, I certainly did heal ... there's a lot more hope and capacity for healing within ourselves than the medical community would have us believe."
http://www.dailycamera.com/features...climbers-escape-from-benzo-madness?source=rss
not news as such but may interest a few in here delete if you think its not right
Though Matt Samet has worked through difficult, heady climbs and scaled alpine ridges solo, he was unable to escape the abyss of prescription-drug addiction, which began in his teens and almost cost him his life. Valium. Xanax. Klonopin. Whichever benzodiazepine ("benzos") -- prescription tranquilizers -- one can think of, doctors likely prescribed it to Samet in their efforts to help him shake his demons.
But what started as an antidote for intense anxiety led to a lifelong dependency on the drugs. He went from a young, active climber to a man confined to his bed who was even forced to leave his job as an editor at Climbing magazine in 2005.
Even an hour or so off the drugs would plunge him into an agonizing state of dread.
"You know that feeling you get sometimes when you wake up at 3 a.m. and you can't sleep and you just sit there thinking about death?" Samet said. "I felt that horrible, crushing sense of mortal terror all of the time, not just when the pills wore off."
Samet eventually recovered from the crippling addiction and has been living a happy, sober life since 2007. But his journey to recovery was not easy, as the Gunbarrel resident documents in his latest book, "Death Grip: A Climber's Escape From Benzo Madness." It was released Feb. 12 and recently has been on the bestseller lists for hardcover nonfiction at the Boulder Book Store and Barnes & Noble at Crossroads Commons. Samet has a book signing scheduled for April 8 at the Tattered Cover Book Store, 1628 16th St., Denver.
In "Death Grip," Samet describes the challenging and complicated process of recovering from benzos. According to Michael Ferrel, executive director at Northstar Transitions, a Boulder-based private substance-abuse rehabilitation and mentoring program, benzodiazepine recovery
Climbing The Inside Passage on Boulder's Flying Flatiron pales in comparison to Matt Samet's battle with addiction. (Matt Samet Collection /Courtesy photo)
requires the use of other anxiety-reducing drugs, "or else the anxiety will become overwhelming."
Samet struggled immensely with being constantly prescribed more of the very drug he was addicted to.
"All the doctors ever did was put me on more drugs, which made me sicker," Samet said. "To me it's like, you swallow a little bit of rat poison, you go to the hospital, and they give you roach poison."
Disappointed with modern medicine's approach to recovery, Samet sought help from local and online support groups. That's where he met the late Alison Kellagher, a recovered addict and founder of a benzo support group in Boulder. The two become good friends, and she assured Samet he was not an anomaly, that others like them had been able to kick the addiction.
Samet credited his recovery to healthy living, a good support system and strong will. In 2007, he met the woman he eventually would marry, Kristin, five months after taking his last med. Samet was still very sick when they met, so he was up front with Kristin about his addiction.
"She was very accepting from the get-go," Samet said. "I told her on our first date that I couldn't do a lot of things we take for granted, like going on hikes and being in public, but she was still very supportive."
Samet and his wife have a 15-month-old son, Ivan, and they lead a typical family life. Samet continues to climb and still considers it to be a defining part of his life. He also takes an active stand against the over-prescription and abuse of benzos. In "Death Grip," Samet touches on the bigger issue of how the medical community treats benzo addiction.
"I don't think that just because I went through this people shouldn't be able to take these," Samet said. "The problem is that there is no support within the medical community for getting people off if and when they want to go off. They're just sort of yanked off these pills in detox centers, which can be very dangerous."
Samet claims that much of the psychiatric mistreatment he and other benzo patients receive stems from the "arrogance" of doctors. "The change will come when doctors start listening to their patients," he said.
Samet said the main reason he wrote the book was to inspire others who are dealing with benzo addiction.
"For anyone who's going through this or suspects they are, I got better." Samet said. "It's a pretty hopeless situation, but once I broke free (with the passage of) time and coming to terms with what happened, I certainly did heal ... there's a lot more hope and capacity for healing within ourselves than the medical community would have us believe."
http://www.dailycamera.com/features...climbers-escape-from-benzo-madness?source=rss
not news as such but may interest a few in here delete if you think its not right
