The Dangers of Klonopin Addiction and the Benefit of Treatment

Benzodiazepines are not new drugs; first released in the 1960s, they were the most widely prescribed drugs in the world by 1977 and their use has grown exponentially since that time. Research revealsthat between 1996 and 2013, “the number of adults filling a benzodiazepine prescription increased 67%” and there are no signs of the trend reversing. Today, it is estimated that over 5.6% of American adults fill a benzodiazepine prescription each year, typically for anxiety disorders, but also for conditions such as mood disorders, seizures, and alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

While these drugs have undoubtedly provided significant therapeutic benefit for countless users, they have also always carried the potential for abuse and addiction. Unfortunately, much of the focus on benzodiazepine addiction has centered primarily on fast-acting drugs with short half-lives, most notably Xanax. Klonopin, on the other hand, has historically been considered a safer drug owing to its slower onset and longer half-life and both prescribers and users may underestimate its addictive potential. But in fact, physical dependence on Klonopin can develop quickly—within weeks—even when taken as directed and psychological dependence can come on even faster due to its neurochemical effects; it can make your problems seem to fade away within the hour. “The beauty of a benzo is its simplicity,” writes Lisa Miller in New York Magazine. “SSRIs like Prozac or Celexa can work on anxiety as well as depression, but take two or three weeks to click in. A benzo is, plain and pure, a chill pill: You take it when you need to without committing to months or years of talk therapy.” And, of course, you needn’t suffer from either anxiety or depression to enjoy these effects; people who take Klonopin for physical ailments can also fall into its seductive lull, as can purely recreational users.

The tranquility Klonopin initially produces, however, doesn’t last, which is why it’s recommended for short-term use only for the vast majority of users. Long-term Klonopin use is associated with a host of physical, neurological, and psychological risks, including:

• Cognitive impairment
• Mood disturbances
• Anxiety
• Sleep disturbances
• Psychosis
• Immune disorders
• Suicidal ideation
• Injury due to lack of coordination and compromised judgment

Klonopin, like other benzodiazepines, also present a risk of overdose, both alone and when combined with other drugs. In 2013, benzodiazepines were implicated in approximately 30% of prescription drug overdose deaths and such the rate of such deaths is outpacing the rate of benzodiazepine prescription increases. This is increase is believed to reflect a growing number of both users who combine benzodiazepines with alcohol or opioids, which significantly increases lethality due to their potentiating effect. However, benzodiazepines can present an overdose risk even when used in isolation and as tolerance grows you are more likely to experience accidental overdose resulting in respiratory depression.

Discontinuing any addictive drug can be a profoundly difficult process. Klonopin and other benzodiazepines, however, present a number of special challenges for discontinuation. Because your brain quickly adapts to account for the presence of Klonopin, a sudden absence of Klonopin leaves it struggling to achieve equilibrium. As a result, you can experience a host of withdrawal symptoms, including:

• Sweating
• Tremors
• Sleep disturbances
• Irritability
• Concentration difficulties
• Nausea
• Headache
• Muscle pains and stiffness
• Perceptual changes
• Seizures

The severity of these symptoms can vary drastically from person to person and may cause significant physical and psychological discomfort and even death. “During one of my nastier withdrawals, I knocked over a glass of orange juice and cried hysterically on my mother’s shoulder, begging her to make my hands stop shaking,” writes Ashley, who struggled with benzodiazepine addiction for over six years. “I felt like I was crawling out of my own skin I drew a picture of how I felt that day: A hand clutching an exploding heart surrounded by a ticking time bomb.” The unbearable nature of unassisted withdrawal explains why some now say that benzodiazepines are harder to quit than heroin.

At the same time, even successful discontinuation of Klonopin use carries with it its own dangers. While some people do use Klonopin strictly recreationally, a large proportion of users were introduced to the drug via treatment for legitimate illnesses, particularly mental health disorders. While Klonopin addiction can compromise your psychiatric stability, so too can its discontinuation in people who have relied on it to address symptoms of mental illness. As such, stopping Klonopin use can present very real risks to your psychiatric health by suddenly leaving your mental health disorder untreated. Not only can this be profoundly dangerous in terms of your emotional and behavioral well-being, it can also cause rapid relapse as you seek you to quell unchecked psychological turmoil.