Benzos definition of addiction?

[harpergrace]

I have been on 2mg Klonopin twice daily since 2009 & was prescribed 2mg Ativan for quick onset panic attacks. Recently, I acquired a prescription for .25mg Halcion to aid with insomnia ( due to all other medication attempts to solve the problem being exhausted).

I quickly realized that she has developed a tolerance to benzodiazepines. It requires 3 ( not the single dose ) pills to put me into a nice slumber. None of the prescribed medications do the trick at the prescribed ( let alone highest prescribed) dose.

I know I can ingest 30 of the Klonopin and be fine the next day as well as not take any for an entire month, so…..

From an outside prospective, how would one know if I am addicted to the above listed benzos?

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Please read the rules listed in my signature, we don't use "SWIM" here or anything else. Please edit your post using the EDIT button so that it reads easier.

I don't think you're addicted if you're not using it daily, although if you keep up the dosing patterns you are, you might be later down the line.

 

[amapola]

Tolerance is when you need more of a substance to achieve the same effect.
Dependence is when you need a substance to feel normal (i.e. without it you go into withdrawal).

Addiction has many definitions. Basically if you fall within the requirements of one of these definitions then you are addicted by that definition. Most of these definitions include habitual use which has an overall negative effect and which you can't control. Therefore being dependent and tolerant due to requiring narcotics for legitimate pain might not be viewed as an addiction, and not having used narcotics in years but still craving them every night and day might still be viewed as an addiction.

Basically you can choose whether or not you call yourself an addict and other people will choose whether or not they call you and addict. There is no real formal, or at least universal, definition for it is as you are using it.

You might find this interesting as well.
The Basic Biology of Drug Addiction

 

[harpergrace]

I do take the klonopin every day as well as the halcion. The 'as prescribed' direction means nothing to me. I take a heavy dose of benzos on a good day to function and even more on a bad.

I was called an addict by a coworker who saw me take my meds and it just got me thinking. I don't think I am, but I really don't know for sure.



Added: this may sound idiotic, but I am a pharmacy student. I know quite a lot about the mechanics of addiction but I just...can't be sure about self evaluating. Outside opinions are useful.

 

[Cane2theLeft]

If you're genuinely concerned, you can probably find a local treatment facility that does free evaluations and they can tell you how severe your problem is. In my view (as someone studying addiction counseling), addiction is characterized more by what happens when you take the substance than what happens when you don't... specifically the consequences in your life from your use rather than the purely physical reaction that abstinence may produce (withdrawals).

If I had to sum it up in one sentence, I'd say addiction is when someone persists in their use despite having knowledge of significant consequences that their use produces for themselves and/or others. Some people who are addicts are fortunate not to have substantial academic, professional, medical, familial, etc. consequences but this isn't the norm.

Given the information you provided, there's no way we can tell if you're addicted (and I have had extensive training myself on how to evaluate someone's use and determine if they meet diagnostic criteria for DSM-IV-TR diagnoses such as 'Substance Abuse', 'Substance Dependence' and so forth.

The general mantra around here is that if you have to ask if you're addicted, you likely are (or at least quickly heading in that direction).

 

[suessmayr]

I always thought that what separates a dependent person from an addicted person is their attitude; when a person becomes addicted, they develop a single-mindedness that takes over all their thinking, so that they only really think about (1) getting the drug and (2) securing an opportunity to take it. When I was addicted to valium and xanax, this single-mindedness manifested in behaviours like: always carrying some valium or some xanax on me, no matter where or when; thinking about my day in terms of valium and xanax, so, for example, I would reflect each morning on what I needed to do in order to ascertain when would be the most appropriate and pleasurable time(s) to imbibe the drug (if I had an interview, or exam, or had to meet someone, I would plan to take the drug immediately before). So yeah, I think that what addiction amounts to is a revision of a person's world-view, such that everything in their life is rendered in terms relating to their drug. Of course, you need to be honest if you want to ask yourself whether this is true of you.

S

 

[suessmayr]

Oh and benzos and 'non-benzos' like stillnox and I think halcion are terribly toxic and destructive, unlike even opiates, which have their own evils. When I was taking even small amounts of valium daily I LITERALLY could not read books; I have books still that I was 'reading' at that time and my memory was just so shot and dysfunctional that I couldn't retain in my mind the beginning of a sentence or paragraph long enough to reach its end. So I was annotating literally every point or concept in every sentence; very tragic. As soon as I got clean my mind started functioning so so so much better.