熬过苯二氮卓（安定类）戒断反应
Getting through benzodiazepine withdrawal: INTERVIEW with Dr. Jennifer Leigh, Psy.D
Addiction Blog Published: May 20, 2015
熬过苯二氮卓（安定类）戒断反应：访问心理学博士Jennifer Leigh
原文发表于：成瘾博客 2015年5月20日
原文链接：http://prescription-drug.addictionblog.org/getting-through-benzodiazepine-withdrawal-interview-with-dr-jennifer-leigh-ph-d/
译者：伊万
校对：塗尔干
译文链接：https://mdrights.github.io/posts/getting-through-benzodiazepine.html
（CC-BY-SA版权协议：欢迎分享，请保留作者、译者信息和链接，并附带本版权声明。谢谢。）
Jennifer Leigh holds a doctorate – a PsyD – in psychology and is an award-winning author and spiritual growth coach for people in recovery from alcoholism, addiction or psych med withdrawal. Today, we speak to Dr. Leigh, Psy.D. about benzodiazepine medication(s) withdrawal and invite you to share your thoughts and questions on this topic in the comments section below.
Jennifer Leigh 拥有心理学博士学位，并且是一个获奖作者和为那些从酗酒、成瘾或者精神科药物戒断等康复人员做心灵成长的教练。今天，我们与Leigh博士探讨戒除苯二氮卓类药物的问题和邀请您在以下的评论部分分享您的想法和问题。
ADDICTION BLOG: Let’s begin with these two burning questions: “Why are benzodiazepines such a widely prescribed class of drug (mostly to women and the elderly)?” and “Why does treatment with benzos tend to last a lot longer than the recommended few days or weeks?”
成瘾博客：让我们从两个急切的问题开始：“为什么苯二氮卓类药物成为如此广泛使用的处方药（主要对妇女和老年人）”和“为什么苯二氮卓类药物的治疗会趋向于比推荐的几天或数周持续使用更长的时间？”
DR. JENNIFER LEIGH: Those are two questions that we who have been harmed by these drugs ask, too.
It is hard to come up with an answer that defends the current prescribing practices, as it has been widely known for 40 years that benzodiazepines are addictive and cause brain damage. The problem is that benzos work to reduce anxiety, pain, insomnia, etc. so they do have short-term efficacy. Long term that is not the case, but doctors don’t seem to take that into consideration.
One of the reasons treatment may last so long is that when a patient attempts to reduce their current dose, they feel withdrawal symptoms, which the doctor diagnoses as either the return of the original complaint or a new “illness” or disorder that needs medicating. Stopping a benzo can be so intolerable, that many stay on the drugs, even though they drugs are making them sick, literally.
Jennifer Leigh博士：这两个也是我们被这些药物伤害的的人所要问的两个问题。
要想出一个答案来为当前的处方做法辩护，是很难的，因为 40年来，众所周知苯二氮卓类药物是容易成瘾的并且造成脑部损伤。问题是苯二氮卓类药物能够减轻焦虑、痛苦、失眠等等，所以它们有短期的疗效。长期来说，并不是这样的，但看来医生并不考虑它。
其中一个治疗会持续这么长时间的原因是：当病人试图减少他们当前的剂量时，他们感受到戒药症状，可是医生却诊断是原有疾病的回归或是一种新的需要用药的“病”或障碍。停止使用苯二氮卓类会是那么的难以忍受，所以很多人继续保持用药，即使该类药物确实使到他们生病。
ADDICTION BLOG: Tolerance is quickly formed after taking a benzo med every day for several weeks, and then, the effects subside. Why do doctors keep upping doses and continue prescribing to patients?
成瘾博客：在每天服用苯二氮卓类达数周之后，病人很快形成了耐受性，然后，药效减退。为什么医生总是不断增加剂量并且继续开药给病人？
DR. JENNIFER LEIGH: When you hit what is called tolerance withdrawal, your brain needs more of the medication to continue to feel any effects from it. What happens is the drug remodels the brain. The current theory is that GABA receptors that they drug interacts with in the brain, are either absorbed into the neuronal axon or they become detached.
No one really knows.
All we know is the drug changes the brain and there are less viable working GABA receptors. That means that the patient will experience anxiety, panic, paranoia, intrusive thoughts, and a host of body symptoms, unless the dose is increased. At some point, however, even with increased dosages, withdrawal symptoms will not be kept at bay. The patient will be sick both mentally and physically from the damage done by the drug.
JENNIFE LEIGH 博士：当你碰上所谓的“耐药性戒断”时，你的大脑需要更多的药物来持续让你感到它的效用。所发生的是药物重新构造了大脑。现行理论是那些在大脑中与药物交互作用的GABA 受体，要么被吸收进神经元轴突，要么与轴突脱离。
没人知道真正的事实是什么。
我们所知道的是药物改变了大脑，并且更少存活的的伽马氨基丁酸受体。那意味着病人会经受焦虑、恐慌、妄想症、思维入侵、并且有大量的躯体症状，除非药物剂量增加。但是，在某种程度上，即使是增加了剂量，戒药症状不会受到控制。病人会受到药物造成的伤害带来的精神和身体上的疾病。
ADDICTION BLOG: What would you recommend is the best method to withdraw or detox from a benzo drug?
成瘾博客：你能推荐一个最好的方法来戒断或戒除苯二氮卓类的药瘾吗？
DR. JENNIFER LEIGH: I’m not a medical doctor so I can’t practice medicine without a license so cannot say anything here that would infer that I am.
But I can voice my opinion and say that Dr. Heather Ashton, the world’s leading benzodiazepine expert recommends a very slow taper off of the drug. She has a manual called the Ashton Manual that is the “Bible” of most benzo users who want to get off of their medication.
The worst way to get off a benzo is to go to a detox or rehab. Most are uneducated about withdrawal and will remove the drug far too quickly, or they give other medications to help with benzo withdrawal and the medications actually get in the way of the brain’s healing. A cold turkey withdrawal from the drug, or too rapid of a taper can be fatal.
What most doctors and detox or rehabs don’t understand is that once the drug is removed, recovery can take years. The suffering a person experiences in withdrawal is intolerable. A percentage take their own lives to end the suffering. It is important to get off of the drug slowly, so the withdrawal symptoms are lessened.
JENNIFER LEIGH博士：我不是一个医师，所以我不能无执照开药，所以不能在这里说任何东西以致不让人误会我是一个医师。
但我可以发表我的意见，并且告诉大家Heather Ashton博士，世界首屈一指的苯二氮卓类专家推荐一个非常缓慢的逐渐停药的方法。她有一本被称为“Ashton 手册”，那是大多数苯二氮卓类使用者希望戒脱用药的“圣经”。
要戒断苯二氮卓类的最差的方法是到戒瘾诊所或者康复中心。大多数（医生）没有受过关于戒除的教育，他们会太快撤掉药物，或者他们用其他药物帮助度过戒除症状，但是这些药物实际上阻碍了大脑的康复。突然完全停止使用药品，或者太快的逐渐减药都会是致命的。
大多数医生和戒瘾诊所或者康复中心说不了解的是，一旦苯二氮卓类被戒掉了，所需要花费在康复上的时间要经年久月。一个人在戒断药物中所经受的苦楚是难以忍受的。一定比例的病人以付出自己的生命的代价来结束痛苦。缓慢地进行戒药非常重要，然后这样戒断症状会相对减少了。
ADDICTION BLOG: How do you advise families to work together and help a loved one that’s become benzodiazepine dependent and is going through withdrawal?
成瘾博客：您有什么建议给那些对苯二氮卓类形成依赖并且正在戒药的病人的家人来一同协作和帮助他们的亲人？
DR. JENNIFER LEIGH: That is a wonderful question and I am so pleased that you asked it.
First, it is important that family members educate themselves as to the extreme suffering benzo withdrawal can cause. The suffering is mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. It affects every aspect of a human being-s existence. It is important to be aware that suicide is a very real risk in withdrawal. It is also important to reassure your loved one that they will heal. Reassurance will be needed many, many times throughout a day, for a very long time.
Also, it is important to understand that most doctors are ignorant about benzo withdrawal, so it is best to avoid insisting that your loved one visit a doctor for help, or to tell them that “the doctor knows best.” Usually, the doctor doesn’t know best, and the treatments offered to people in benzo withdrawal are actually harmful. Listen to your loved one, have compassion and above all, tell them they will recover, because they will. Don-t think that their symptoms are “all in their head.” They are not. They are very real, and very horrible.
JENNIFER LEIGHl:这是一个妙极了的问题，我很高兴你能问出来。
首先，家人自我教育以知道关于苯二氮卓类戒断的所能造成的极端痛苦。这些痛苦包括精神上、身体上、情绪上和心灵上的。它影响到一个人的生存的每一方面。意识到自杀在戒药中是一个非常真实的风险，这非常重要。使自己所爱的人安心得知他们会治愈也是非常重要的。这种使他们安心的确认每天需要很多很多次，需要经历很长的时间。
同样的，很重要的是，要明白大多数医生对于苯二氮卓类戒药是无知的，所以最好避免坚持让你爱的人向医生求助，或者也不要告诉他们 “医生最懂行”。通常，医生并不是最了解的，并且在苯二氮卓类戒药中他们提供的治疗也是有害的。聆听你爱的人的声音，心怀同情，并且最重要的是，告诉他们他们会康复的，因为他们确实会康复。不要认为他们的症状是“全在他们头脑里”。不是这样的。这些症状非常真实，并且非常令人恐惧。
ADDICTION BLOG: Are there things friends, family and loved ones should avoid doing when a person is withdrawing from benzodiazepines?
成瘾博客：当一个人正在戒除苯二氮卓类时，有没有他们的朋友、家人和爱人应该避免的？
DR. JENNIFER LEIGH: Yes, family members should avoid insisting that their loved one do anything that is beyond their capabilities in withdrawal. We are truly very sick in withdrawal so the suggestion that we go to the gym, or suck it up and go on vacation, etc., really is hurtful and harmful.
Please avoid drama, and overly stimulating conversations, or activities. Benzos stay in the system for a long time and the central nervous system of a person in benzo withdrawal is quite fragile. We need calm and quiet. Please don’t tell a person in withdrawal to stop talking about their symptoms. Preoccupation with benzo withdrawal is a benzo withdrawal symptom. It will fade away like the other symptoms will.
JENNIFER LEIGH博士：是的，家庭成员应该避免坚持让他们所爱的人在戒药过程做任何超出他们能力的事。我们在戒药过程中真的病的很严重，所以像譬如“让我们到健身房，或者忍着，或者去度假”等建议，真的是很伤人心和有害的。
请避免玩戏剧，和鼓励过度对话，或是活动。苯二氮卓类在身体系统里留存很长的时间，并且一个戒除苯二氮卓类的人的中枢神经系统是非常脆弱的。我们需要平静和安静。请不要让一个正在戒药的人停止谈论他们的症状。戒断苯二氮卓类的忧心忡忡是戒断苯二氮卓类的症状的一种。它会像其他症状消失一样地逐渐消失。
ADDICTION BLOG: Long-term benzodiazepine use can have damaging effects on many organs in the human body, including the brain. You, yourself have experienced benzo dependence and withdrawal. Would you like to share your the details of your recovery process?
成瘾博客：长期使用苯二氮卓类会对包括大脑在内许多人体器官产生损害性影响。你，你自己已经经历苯二氮卓类依赖和戒药。你可以跟我们分享你康复过程的细节吗？
DR. JENNIFER LEIGH: (Laughing) No, it was too horrific. But of course, I’ll share the highlights.
I had panic attacks in my mid thirties. I was put on Clonazepam. I was kept on the drug for 18 years. I never abused it, and took it only as prescribed. Nine years into taking it, I started having strange health issues; my bladder, stomach, heart, bones, muscles… I didn’t feel well a lot of the time.
Not one doctor ever told me I was in tolerance withdrawal, even though I clearly stated that I was on a benzo and had been for many years. In 2010 I was having a lot of tolerance withdrawal symptoms and made the decision to taper off. My doctor (who is one of the “best” in the area”) gave me very bad advice which I followed.
I tapered for 8 months. I became bedridden and unable to sleep during the night. Another doctor gave me Phenobarbital and sent me home to cold turkey on my own. I ended up in the hospital, deathly ill and out of my mind with terror, the hallmark benzo withdrawal symptom. I had almost every symptom that one can have in withdrawal. I was lucky I never had a seizure though.
JENNIFER LEIGH 博士：（笑）不，它太可怕了。但当然，我会分享一些精彩部分。
我在三十岁中的有过惊恐发作。我服用了氯硝安定。我持续服药了18年。我从来没有滥用它，只是按处方所写的服用。服药九年后，我开始有奇怪的健康问题：我的膀胱、胃、心脏、骨骼、肌肉…..我很多时间感到很不好。
从来没有一个医生告诉我，我处于“耐药性戒断”，即使是我很清楚说明我服用苯二氮卓类，并且是服用了很多年。2010年我有很多耐药性戒除症状，并且决定逐渐戒断。我的医生（在那个领域是最好的一个）给了我很差的建议，而我听从了他的建议。
我逐渐减药了8个月。我变得卧床不起，并且夜不能寐。另一位医生开了苯巴比妥，叫我回家自己马上停药。我最终回到医院，病得死去活来，发了疯一样，充满了恐怖，那是典型的苯二氮卓类戒除症状。全部戒除反应的症状在我身上都发生了。但是，我很幸运我没有受到抽搐、癫痫。
The 18 month off of the drug was exceedingly cruel. I prayed for death every day. I had intrusive thoughts, looping thoughts, severe anxiety, terror, panic, paranoia, depression, hopelessness, and an inability to feel joy or comfort. I developed bizarre fears and phobias.
My body was a mess too. I had horrific pain in my bones, joints, muscles and eyes and ears. The fatigue was crushing. I also had severe cognition problems. I couldn’t use a computer for awhile as I forgot how. I lost things, and forgot things. I went days without showering as I had developed POTS, postural orthostatic hypotension. Standing was almost impossible some days. I used a walker or a cane for awhile. I was unable to work, and unable to participate in normal life. I felt removed from everything and the only emotion my brain could create was fear or shame.
It took three years for the mental symptoms to go away, and I-ll be four years free this June, and my body still is healing from the damage. I have blogged honestly about my journey so as to give hope and comfort to others who are suffering in benzo withdrawal. It is an almost unbearable suffering. It is primal suffering. And the sad thing is is that doctors are doing this to people, all over the world.
用18个月戒断苯二氮卓类真的极度的残酷。每天我都希望自己会死。我有侵入性思维、循环思维、严重的焦虑、恐怖、惊恐发作、妄想、抑郁、无望、和无法感受到快乐和舒适。我患上了奇怪的忧虑和恐惧。
我的身体状况也一团糟。我的骨骼、关节、肌肉、眼睛和耳朵痛苦的要命。还有致命性的疲劳。我也有严重的认知问题。有一段时间因为我失去了记忆，所以我不知道怎么用电脑。我丢了东西，忘事儿。我患上了体位性直立低血压，所以我好几天没有洗澡。有些天直立几乎是不可能的。有一段时间我使用助行器或者拐杖。我不能工作，不能正常生活。我感到远离了一切，我大脑能够产生的唯一感情就是忧虑和羞耻。
精神症状三年之后才消失，到今年6月我就整整四年没有有那些症状了，但身体仍然要从伤害中康复。为了给苯二氮卓类戒药者希望和安慰，我诚实地写了我戒药过程的博客。它是一种那么难以忍受的痛苦。这是最主要的痛苦。令人伤心的是，全世界的医生都在向人们做着同样的事（错误处理戒药症状）。
ADDICTION BLOG: Benzodiazepines tend to produce the same withdrawal effects that they are prescribed to treat. Usually, when people stop taking a benzo they do not realize that symptoms can be part of the withdrawal effect. What, in your opinion, needs to be done to better educate people who are receiving benzodiazepine therapy?
成瘾博客：苯二氮卓类有产生与它们用于治疗相同的戒除效应的倾向。通常，当人们戒除苯二氮卓类时，他们并不知道那些症状可能是戒除反应的一部分。在您看来，需要做些什么来教导那些正在服用苯二氮卓类治疗的人？
DR. JENNIFER LEIGH: First, it would be best to avoid taking a benzo for any reason other than a one time dose pre-surgery or to stop an uncontrollable seizure in an emergency situation. Other than that, there shouldn’t be a market for them, unless you are in the market for brain damage.
JENNIFER LEIGH博士：首先，除非是一次性手术前服用或者是终止紧急情况的不可控制的发作，万不得已最好避免服用苯二氮卓类。除此之外，不应给予它们存在的市场，除非你是在一个伤害大脑的市场当中 (就是说不应当存在于治病救人的市场经济中，除非用来害人——译者注)。
I’m not sure who would be better to educate, the general public or doctors. But if one is currently on a benzo, please know that your brain and body will function better if you slowly get off of the medication and allow your brain to return to its normal state. It’s important to know that not everyone taking a benzo will suffer horrible withdrawal symptoms. We don’t know what causes some people to be able to take the drug with little harm, while others are decimated by it. Don’t avoid tapering off because you are fearful of withdrawal. Long-term use of the drug may cause dementia. It certainly can cause cognition problems and memory loss, along with the terrible benzo withdrawal symptoms.
Know that your doctor may not be educated about benzo use, tolerance and withdrawal. Please educate yourself. There are many blogs, websites, Facebook groups and an online forum where you can get information about benzos and withdrawal. Once you are armed with the facts, stand your ground when you talk to your doctor.
我不确定教育大众还是医生好。但是一个人如果正在服用苯二氮卓类的话，我会告诉他：如果你慢慢地停止使用它，并容许你的大脑回复它的正常状态，你的大脑和身体会更好地运作。知道并不是每个服用苯二氮卓类的人都会经受可怕的戒除症状，这非常重要。我们不知道是什么导致有些人能够服用该种药而没有那么多损害，而另外一些人却因此大伤元气。不要因为忧虑戒断症状就不去尝试慢慢戒除。长期使用该药物会导致痴呆。它肯定会导致认知问题和丧失记忆，还附带可怕的苯二氮卓类戒除症状。
请知晓你的医生可能没有受到如何使用苯二氮卓类的使用，耐药性和戒除的教育。请自我教育。有许多的博客、网站、脸书群组以及网上论坛，你可以从那里得到关于苯二氮卓类和戒除它的信息。一旦你充分了解到事实真相，当你跟你的医生谈戒药时坚定立场。
ADDICTION BLOG: When other successful anxiety and insomnia treatments become available, do you think that benzodiazepines will still be as widely needed? Also, are there currently successful treatments out there?
DR. JENNIFER LEIGH: There are many ways one can deal with anxiety. A good therapist can help, as can yoga, meditation, prayer and exercise. Benzos are not “needed” per se as anxiety is a normal human emotion. It isn’t pathological. Knowing that benzos can restructure the brain and cause anxiety/panic/terror/paranoia, it doesn’t make sense to treat someone with something that can cause the same, if not worse, feelings and thoughts.
成瘾博客：当其他成功治疗焦虑和失眠的方法变得有效时，你认为苯二氮卓类还会是像以前一样广泛应用吗？同样，市面上现在有成功的治疗方法吗？
JENNIFER LEIGH：应对焦虑有很多种方法。一个好的治疗师可以帮助到我们，同样，瑜伽、冥想、祷告和锻炼都可以。苯二氮卓类并不是身体本身的“需要”，因为焦虑是人类的一种正常情绪。它不是病态的。了解到苯二氮卓类会重构大脑并且导致焦虑/恐慌/恐惧/妄想狂，如果没有导致更坏的情绪和思想的话，用会造成同样的症状的药物来做治疗，完全没有意义。
I am hopeful for two things.
- As we learn more about the brain and how it functions, better medications can be invented to help those who have brains that cause mental/emotional problems. In time, I hope that the public becomes educated about all psych meds and they learn the inherent dangers in each and every one of them.
- There are no “safe” psych meds. Yet we all believe that if we are anxious or depressed, a quick trip to our doctors and a pill will solve those feelings. We’ve been brainwashed into thinking that pills are the answer and they are safe. Neither is really true.
我对两件事情充满希望：
- 当我们更多地了解大脑和它是如何运作的时候，人们就会发明更好的药物去帮助那些大脑造成精神/情绪问题的人。最后，我希望公众受到关于精神科药物的教育，并且知道每一种药物的固有危险。
- 世界上没有“安全”的精神科药物。然而，我们 (其实是指公众) 还是相信如果我们焦虑或抑郁的话，尽快看医生并且吃药会解决这些情绪问题。我们被洗脑了，我们被医生告知药物是解决的方法，并且它们是安全的。这两者都是错的。
ADDICTION BLOG: What would you recommend needs to be done to change the benzo prescribing practices of clinicians and healthcare professionals?
DR. JENNIFER LEIGH: I am hopeful that here in the U.S. that the FDA will step in an laws will be created and enforced so that these drugs can not be prescribed long term. The manufacturers of benzos say 2-4 weeks is the maximum they should be prescribed. (Even that is too long for some people. Addiction has been recorded in 10 days. )
Legal battles have been waging for decades in the U.K. over these drugs, with very little headway made. It is discouraging that profits are more important that people.
Education about the side effects, tolerance withdrawal, interdose withdrawal and the withdrawal syndrome that occurs upon lowering or ceasing the medication needs to be available to every doctor. The dangers with benzos needs to be taught in med school.
There is so much information now on the web from people who have survived benzo withdrawal, it is a shame that the powers that be discredit it, or don’t read it.
成瘾博客：对于临床医生和卫生保健专业人士在苯二氮卓类上的处方做法，你觉得做些什么去改变现状的话，有什么建议吗？ JENNIFER LEIGH：我希望美国食品药物管理局会介入，立法并执行，然后这些药物就不能长期开处方。苯二氮卓类制药商说它们的最长处方期为2-4周。（即使是这样对于某些人来说也太长了。有十天后就成瘾的记录。）
在英国对于使用这些药物的法律斗争已经进行了数十年，没取得多少进展。利润比人更重要，这真的令人很沮丧。
副作用、耐药性戒药 (“戒断反应”比较准确些)、剂量间戒药和减少药量和完全停止服药时发生的戒药症状的教育必须提供给每一个医生。关于苯二氮卓类的危险的教育必须在医学院进行。 现在在网上有这么多人们成功戒断苯二氮卓类的信息，权力机关 (当权的人？)不相信它们或者完全不去了解它们，真的是莫大的羞耻。
ADDICTION BLOG: Finally, is there something we missed that you’d like to add and share with our readers?
DR. JENNIFER LEIGH: I want the public to know that these drugs are very dangerous. Not everyone will be so grossly affected by them, but many, many will be. The health issues that arise while taking them can be debilitating. And doctors are unaware that the source of the problem is the benzo. You can go for years with sub-optimal health, while you are one them, and not know why you are so sick.
I’d like your readers to know that there are very, very few doctors here in the U.S. who are educated and truly understand the damage that a benzo can cause, and how very long, frightening and debilitating the recovery can be. Even doctors, who claim they understand, don’t, and they prescribe more drugs or supplements and vitamins that are actually harmful to us in withdrawal. It really is a health crisis.
成瘾博客：最后，你还有没有要增加和与读者分享的内容？
JENNIFER LEIGH 博士：我想要公众知道这些药物是非常危险的。虽然并不是每个人都会这样受到严重的影响，但许多许多人会。服用这些药物所产生的健康问题会使人身体非常虚弱。而医生竟然不知道问题的根源在于苯二氮卓类。当你服用它们时，你会好几年都健康欠佳，而你却不知道你为什么病得这么厉害。
我想你们的读者知道在美国真的是非常非常少的医生受到教育，真正地知道苯二氮卓类会造成的损伤，和恢复的时间是多么长，恢复起来是多么令人恐惧和使人身体衰弱的。即使医生，他们声称自己懂得是怎么一回事，实际上他们也不懂得，并且他们处方更多药和营养片和维他命，这些实际上在我们戒药时是有害的。这真的是一个卫生危机。
I encourage anyone who is on a benzo to educate himself or herself by learning from those who have been in the trenches. They know the truth. They have more good advice than 99% of the doctors. (It’s not that doctors are bad, they just haven’t been exposed to the truth.) People who have been through withdrawal know about kindling, a very real complication that can occur, as well as what foods, beverages, vitamins, supplements, medications etc. must be avoided so the central nervous system isn’t more compromised than it already is. They understand why traditional talk therapy is counter productive in benzo withdrawal. They know what works and what doesn’t work.
It’s a shame, really, that there is such an enormous health crisis in our country, caused by doctors, ignored by doctors, and the only help is from fellow sufferers who have been through it. Hopefully one day, the medical community will wake up, get the message and stop damaging people with these drugs.
Please remember that there is no safe amount of a benzo to take. Just because your doctor prescribed it and you take it only has directed, doesn’t mean that you are not being harmed or becoming dependent on the drug.
我鼓励每一个服用苯二氮卓类的人通过向曾陷入戒断“深渊”的人学习来教育自己。那些人了解真相。他们比起99%的医生更多好的建议。（不是说医生坏，他们不了解真相而已。）经历了戒断的人知道“引火物”，一种会产生的精神错乱，以及需要避免使用什么食物、饮料、维他命、营养物、药物等等，然后让中枢神经系统不会变得更加缺乏免疫力。他们懂得为什么传统交谈疗法在苯二氮卓类戒除中时是起相反作用的。他们懂得什么有用，什么没用。
在我们的国家有这么由医生造成的数量庞大的卫生危机，它们被医生无视，而唯一的解救来源是(我们这些)经历了这些戒断症状的受害者 (自己的自助互助)，这真的是一个巨大的耻辱。我们充满希望有一天，医疗群体会觉醒，了解信息，并不要再用药物伤害人们了。
请千万记住服用苯二氮卓类没有安全剂量。只是因为你的医生开给你，而你按指引服用了它，不意味着你不会受到伤害，或者对药物产生依赖。