Effects of Xanax Abuse
The effects of Xanax abuse go far beyond the symptoms the drug creates. The real effects of Xanax abuse are seen in what it does to an addict’s life, mind and relationships. Since Xanax—including its generic form, alprazolam—is the most widely prescribed of the benzodiazepines, it is also the most widely abused of these drugs.
And there are hundreds of thousands of people who are suffering the effects of Xanax abuse. Between 2004 and 2010, the number of people who visited emergency rooms who were suffering from the effects of Xanax increased from 46,000 to nearly 125,000.
These statistics also show how common it is to mix Xanax abuse with the use of other drugs. The Drug Awareness Warning Network notes that more than 96,000 of these people had used more than one drug, usually alcohol, opiates, marijuana or cocaine.
What Do People Say about the Effect of Xanax on their Lives?
Several years after his addiction to Xanax ended, one young man stated: “By the end when I sought help for my addiction, I was at a point where I couldn’t string a proper sentence of words together. I had NO memory and also false memories and to this day I still have short-term memory problems.”
An Australian woman described her experience trying to recover from Xanax addiction: “It’s been physically and emotionally painful. I have had headaches and migraines, muscle and stomach aches and loss of coordination. I have had mild paranoia. I have had intense flashbacks about stressful events. I’ve had nausea and vomiting. I sometimes feel suicidal.”
A college student with a relative taking Xanax said: “Having a close family member on Xanax is like trying to talk to someone who is on autopilot all of the time. You can never get through. They don’t remember important conversations. It’s like they are dead, but somehow still moving while on the drug. It really tears things apart. Not to mention having to worry about whether or not they will wake up the next morning.”
In 2002, Governor Jeb Bush’s daughter Noelle was arrested in Florida for prescription fraud when she tried to buy Xanax. She could have been buying this drug to self-medicate for anxiety, but a popular effect of Xanax is using the drug to settle down after Ecstasy abuse at a dance club.
More Damaging Side Effects
While these comments describe the larger effects on one’s life, there are still the more immediate side effects to contend with.
The effects of xanax abuse include:
- Stomach problems like nausea or vomiting
- Sight problems like blurred or double vision
- Memory problems like amnesia or forgetfulness
- Attention problems like lack of focus or confusion
- Muscle control problems like lack of coordination and tremors
- Lack of interest in sex
Recovering from the effects of Xanax abuse is difficult and even dangerous to do alone. Many people must be weaned off Xanax by a physician, sometimes in a medical detox environment. But when they are off the drug, the person will still need to recover from the damage the addiction does to mind, body, spirit and life. This is where the Narconon drug recovery program can help.
The Narconon Program
This addiction recovery program is drugless, meaning that no drugs are ever prescribed as part of treatment. The focus is on repairing the damage that addiction does, whether that addiction was to Xanax, opiates, alcohol or any other substance of abuse.
There are some fifty Narconon recovery facilities around the world. In each one, the program is the same, taking on average eight to ten weeks to complete.
The Narconon recovery program is structured so that the individual has tools that help him succeed in life and remain drug-free.
The Narconon program not only addresses the debilitating effects of drug abuse on the mind and body, but also resolves why a person turned to drugs in the first place. As a result, a person can graduate from the program into a new life free from drug use.
Learn how this program can help someone you care about who is trapped in Xanax addiction.
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