The Rational Use of Benzodiazepines: The Importance of Medical and/or Pharmaceutical Guidance

Abstract

A growing demand for drugs that may relieve symptoms such as stress and anxiety, with inappropriate prescriptions and unprepared professionals, contribute to the increasing misuse of benzodiazepine class drugs, increasing the likelihood of adverse reactions, intoxication, and dependence on these drugs. Chronic and indiscriminate use can lead to the development of tolerance and dependence to BZDs. Then, the present work aimed to prepare a narrative bibliographic review addressing the use of benzodiazepines and medical and/or pharmaceutical guidance/advice on the risks of the main adverse effects of them. The papers were obtained by direct search, using the following keywords: benzodiazepines, dependence, indiscriminate use. Two publications were found, one Brazilian and one Lebanese. Although the publications are almost 20 years apart and were published in different countries, we observed that data such as frequency of use of the drug, lack of counseling/incomplete counseling and duration of use of the drug by the majority of the population are preserved. These results, together with the high rate of use of benzodiazepines as a measure to relieve insomnia and anxiety, reinforce the idea of ​​the need to develop deprescription policies and, when the drug is really necessary, to provide correct and complete guidance on the risk of the main adverse effects of this class of drugs.