Scariest Psych Disorders,The Finale

Scariest Psych Disorders, the finale

Hello, people… welcome back to the blog! Last week, we talked about more of the strangest and scariest psych disorders, and this week, we’ll finish that off before we take a break for the holidays. Let’s get right to it.

Kluver-Bucy Syndrome

Ever had a food craving? Maybe you want a piping hot pepperoni and mushroom pizza, with extra cheese. Sounds good, right? How about you add some dryer lint? Yum! Or maybe a little shredded phone book? Still sound good? No? How about sex… ever had a craving for that? Of course, everyone has, right? How about sex with a truck? Not in a truck… WITH a truck. Hmmm…. Maybe not so much.

Well, imagine craving the taste of that phone book, or wanting to have sex with a car. It sounds unreal, but those things are reality for people with Kluver-Bucy Syndrome, a very scary neurological disorder associated with damage to the temporal lobes of the brain, resulting in the desire to eat inedible objects, sexual attraction to inanimate objects, and memory loss. 

First described by neuropsychologist Heinrich Klüver and neurosurgeon Paul Bucy- hence the name- the story of Klüver-Bucy syndrome begins with a monkey and a cactus. Actually, it begins with mescaline, which is a chemical derived from a cactus, that causes vivid hallucinations. It was studied very thoroughly- and quite personally- by psychologist Heinrich Klüver, who noticed that monkeys that were given mescaline often smacked their lips, which reminded him of behaviors exhibited by patients with ​seizures arising from the temporal lobe of the brain. Unsure if this was due to mescaline or not, this made the two of them curious as to all of the functions of the temporal lobe, so they designed an experiment on a monkey named Aurora, who happened to be particularly aggressive. They removed a large part of Aurora’s left temporal lobe to investigate it under a microscope, and noted that when she woke, her previously aggressive demeanor had vanished, and she was instead placid and tame. 

Apparently, this drew their interest more than the mescaline, so they focused solely on the temporal lobe, performing bilateral temporal lobe surgery on a series of 16 monkeys, and afterwards noted the following symptoms:

Psychic blindness- this indicates a lack of recognition or understanding of a person, place, or thing being viewed. After the surgery, the monkeys would look at the same object over and over again, unable to recognize the form or function of the object. Even things they should fear, like a hissing snake, they didn’t recognize, much less fear. 

Oral tendencies- like a very small child, the monkeys evaluated everything around them by putting it all into their mouths, rather than using their hands, as they normally would. They would even attempt to push their heads through the bars of their cages in order to touch things with their mouths, instead of their hands. 

Dietary changes- prior to the temporal lobe surgeries, these monkeys usually ate fruit, but afterwards, the monkeys began to accept and consume large quantities of meat.

Hypermetamorphosis- this meant that anything that crossed the monkeys’ field of vision required their full and immediate attention.

Altered sexual behavior- after the procedure, the monkeys become very sexually interested, both alone with themselves, and with others.

Emotional changes- the monkeys became very placid, with reduced or even absent fear. Facial expressions were also lost for several months, but those did return after a period of time.

Not surprisingly, people with Kluver-Bucy syndrome often have the same symptoms: trouble recognizing people and/ or objects that should be familiar to them, and excessive oral tendencies, with the urge to put all kinds of objects into the mouth, whether food items or not. Hypermetamorphosis is also common, the irresistible impulse or need to explore everything that comes into view. Other symptoms include memory loss, emotional changes, extreme sexual behavior, indifference, placidity, and visual agnosia, which is difficulty identifying and processing visual information. A nearly uncontrollable appetite for food is often noted, and there may be dementia type symptoms as well. 

Klüver-Bucy syndrome is the result of damage to the temporal lobes of the brain. This can be the result of trauma to the brain itself, or the result of other degenerative brain diseases, tumors, or some brain infections, most commonly herpes simplex encephalitis.

Thankfully, this type of extreme damage is rare. The first full case report of Klüver-Bucy syndrome was reported by doctors Terzian and Ore in 1955, when a 19-year-old man had sudden seizures, behavioral changes, and psychotic features. First the left, and then the right, temporal lobes were removed. After the surgery, he seemed much less attached to other people, and was even quite cold to his family. At the same time, he was hypersexual, frequently soliciting people who happened by, whether they were men or women. He also wanted to eat constantly, regardless if the items were food or not. 

Because it is so rare, like many classical neurological syndromes, Klüver-Bucy syndrome is really more important for historical and academic reasons, rather than for its immediate applications to patients. The reports of Klüver and Bucy got a lot of publicity at the time, mainly due to their demonstrating the temporal lobe’s involvement with interpreting vision, and their work added to the growing recognition that particular regions of the brain had unique functions which were lost if that region of the brain was damaged. Science is built on the work of others- the more we know, the more we learn- and while Klüver-Bucy syndrome isn’t very common, the work that went into describing it still has an impact felt in neurology to this day.

Aboulomania

To be or not to be… that is the question. At least, that’s one of the many questions someone with aboulomania is likely to ask themselves. From the Greek a-, meaning without’, and boulē, meaning will, aboulomania is a psych disorder in which the patient displays pathological indecisiveness. While many people have a hard time making decisions, it is rarely to the extent of obsession, and that’s exactly the case in aboulomania.

In most people, the part of the brain that is tied to making rational choices, the prefrontal cortex, can hold several pieces of information at any given time. But people with aboulomania quickly become overwhelmed when trying to make choices or decisions, regardless of the importance of that decision. They come up with all the reasons how and why their decisions will turn out badly, causing them to overanalyze every situation critically. It’s a classic case of paralysis by analysis, where a lack of information, difficulty in valuation, and outcome uncertainty combine to become obsession. Often associated with anxiety, stress, and depression, as you can imagine, aboulomania can severely affect one’s ability to function socially. 

As for etiology, it’s usually extremely authoritarian or overprotective parenting that leads to the development of aboulomania; when caretakers reward loyalty and punish independence. Sometimes there’s a history of neglect and avoidance of expressed emotion during childhood that contributes to it. If someone is a victim of humiliation or abandonment during childhood, the chances for aboulomania increase, as shame, insecurity, and lack of self-trust can all trigger it. It’s sad to see, when everyday tasks become deciding questions of peoples’ lives. Simple decisions… to see a movie or stay at home, and what movie? Do I want Mexican or Italian food? Should I call John or text him? These are questions that cannot be answered by people with aboulomania without an eternity of dilemmas. 

It’s common for people with aboulomania to avoid being alone whenever they know a decision has to be made, or feel like a dilemma might come up. But this doesn’t come from a fear of being alone, it comes from the need to have someone there to make the decision for them, and assume the responsibility for said decision. Here, the fear of being alone isn’t the root of the problem, it’s just a symptom of a bigger issue. It’s important to mention that this dependency on people makes it easier for others to manipulate or lie to people with aboulomania. Some people will take advantage of their indecisiveness and use that, while others will simply leave them for not being able to make choices or ever express disagreement. 

Many times, people with aboulomania don’t recognize it, or recognize it but try to play it off, but this is a pathological level of indecision, a mental illness, not just a self-esteem or insecurity issue, so diagnosis is important. Look, being indecisive when having to make an important decision is normal, but when it starts affecting your relationships, and it makes it impossible for you to live your life, it’s a problem, so it’s time for an evaluation. Once diagnosed, the process really consists of dealing with any of the underlying anxiety, depression, or stress that usually goes with it. The idea is to then help the person develop more autonomy, self esteem, and social skills, like assertiveness. 

Paris Syndrome

Ah Paris… the beautiful city of lights, croissants, funny mimes, the Champs-Elysées, macarons, the Eiffel Tower, and art at the Louvre. Sounds fabulous. That’s what most people think of, that view that I just described, so the reality can come as a shock… McDonald’s on every corner, crime, graffiti, and rude taxi drivers and waiters, irritated by tourists who don’t speak the lingo. I mean, every place has its pros and cons, but people seem to have romantic expectations of Paris, right? Hence Paris syndrome, an extremely odd, but thankfully temporary, mental disorder that causes one to become completely overwhelmed while visiting the city of Paris. And to be clear, not overwhelmed by the beauty, but rather by the reality of Paris. 

Interestingly, Paris syndrome seems to be most common among Japanese travelers. The theory is that they’re used to a more polite and helpful society in which voices are rarely raised in anger, and the experience of their dream city turning into a nightmare can simply be too much. Of the approximately 6 million Japanese visitors to Paris each year, one to two dozen experience overwhelming anxiety, acute delusions, hallucinations, feelings of confusion and disorientation, nausea, paranoia, dizziness, sweating, and feelings of persecution that are Paris syndrome. Researchers really just speculate as to cause; because most people who experience this syndrome have no history of mental illness, the leading thought is that it’s triggered by the language barrier, physical and mental exhaustion, and the reality of Paris as compared to the idealized version.

So what can one do to prevent Paris syndrome? Simple: adjust your expectations. Ultimately, it’s like any modern metropolis- dirty, crowded, loud, and often indifferent… but beautifully so. Just don’t expect the furniture to spring to life and help you get ready for your dance with the Beast, and a trip to Paris will be exciting, and, most importantly, free of debilitating anxiety and hallucinations.

Cotard Delusion

It seems like there have been so many iterations of The Walking Dead, and like every generation sees a new zombie trend, but this isn’t all movie magic. Imagine feeling IRL that you are dead already, that your body and all of your internal organs are rotting, and that you are ceasing to exist. Well, that’s how it is for people with this very strange- and incredibly frightening- neuropsych disorder also known as nihilistic delusion, as well as walking corpse syndrome. Boy, that last one pretty much says it all, right? Named for neurologist Jules Cotard, who first described it in 1880 as “The Delirium of Negation,” Cotard delusion typically occurs in conjunction with severe depression, some psychotic disorders, and other neurological conditions.

One of the main symptoms of Cotard delusion is nihilism- the belief that nothing has any value or meaning- but can also include the belief that nothing really exists. And in fact, in some cases, people with Cotard delusion feel like they’ve never existed, never lived. But it does have a flip side, the feeling of being immortal. As for other symptoms, depression is numero uno, with anxiety a close second. Hello, I think I’d be depressed and anxious too if I thought I was rotting and my very soul didn’t exist. But depression is in fact very closely linked to Cotard delusion, with a review indicating that 89% of documented cases cited depression as a symptom. Aside from anxiety, other common symptoms include hallucinations, hypochondria, guilt, and a preoccupation with hurting oneself or with death. 

Researchers aren’t sure what causes Cotard delusion, but there are a few potential risk factors. Being female is one, as women seem to be more likely to develop Cotard delusion. Age is a factor. Several studies indicate that the average age of people with Cotard delusion is about 50, but it can also occur in children and teenagers. Interestingly, people with Cotard delusion that are under the age of 25 tend to also have bipolar depression, so that’s a risk factor. In addition, Cotard delusion seems to occur more often in people who think that their personal characteristics, rather than their environment, cause their behavior. People who believe the opposite- that their environment causes their behavior- are more likely to have a related condition called Capgras syndrome. That should sound familiar from the first installment of this series, as the syndrome causes people to think their family and friends have been replaced by imposters. Notably, Cotard delusion and Capgras syndrome can also appear together. Imagine that… believing that your body is rotting away, you are ceasing to exist, and all of the people and places in your life have been replaced by imposters! Jump on the empathy train, people. 

In addition to bipolar disorder, other mental health conditions that might increase one’s risk of developing Cotard delusion include postpartum depression, psychotic depression, schizophrenia, catatonia, and dissociative disorder. Cotard delusion also appears to be associated with certain neurological conditions, including dementia, brain infections, brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, migraines, stroke, traumatic brain injuries, and Parkinson’s disease.

As you can imagine, feeling like you’re ceasing to exist- or like you’ve already died- can lead to some gnarly complications. For example, some people stop bathing or taking care of themselves, which can lead to skin and dental issues. All of that can cause people around them to start distancing themselves, which then usually leads to additional feelings of isolation and depression for the patient. Others stop eating and drinking because they believe their body doesn’t need it, and in severe cases, this can lead to malnutrition and starvation, even death by starvation. Unfortunately, suicide attempts are very common in people with Cotard delusion. Some see it as a way to prove they’re already dead by showing they can’t die again, while others simply feel trapped in a body and life that feels hopeless and doesn’t seem real. They hope that their life will get better or that their condition will stop if they die again.

Fortunately, Cotard’s delusion is very rare, with about 200 cases known worldwide, and while the symptoms are extreme and it can be hard to get the right diagnosis, most people get better with treatment. That generally entails a mix of therapy and medication, often a combination of meds to find something that works. If nothing seems to work, ECT- electroconvulsive therapy- may be used as a last resort. Done under general anesthesia, ECT passes small electric currents through the brain; this induces a generalized seizure and causes changes in brain chemistry that may quickly reverse or resolve symptoms of certain mental health conditions. While it sounds horrifying, ECT is not the procedure depicted in old B movies, and it can be a real game changer for some people with refractory conditions… I’ve seen a single ECT session change a person’s life. 

There are descriptions of several Cotard’s cases available on the interwebs. One of the earliest recorded cases occurred in 1788, when an elderly woman was preparing a meal and felt a sudden draft, and then became totally paralyzed on one side of her body. When feeling, movement, and the ability to speak eventually came back to her, she told her daughters to dress her in a shroud and place her in a coffin. For days, she continued to demand that her daughters, friends, and maid treat her like she was dead. They finally gave in, putting her in a shroud and laying her out so they could mourn her. Even at the “wake,” the lady continued to fuss with her shroud, and even complained about its color. When she finally fell asleep, her family undressed her and put her to bed. After she was treated with a “powder of precious stones and opium,” her delusions went away, only to return every few months.

Some 100 years later, Cotard himself saw a patient he called Mademoiselle X, and she had an unusual complaint. She claimed to have “no brain, no nerves, no chest, no stomach and no intestines,” yet despite this predicament, she also believed that she “was eternal and would live forever.” Since she was immortal, and didn’t have any innards, evidently she didn’t see a need to eat, and soon died of starvation. Cotard’s description of the woman’s condition spread widely and was very influential, and the disorder was eventually named after him.

But Cotard’s delusion isn’t strictly confined to the history books. In 2008, a New York psychiatrist reported on a 53-year-old patient who complained that she was dead and smelled like rotting flesh. She asked her family to take her to a morgue so that she could be with other dead people. Thankfully, they dialed 911 instead, and the patient was admitted to the psychiatric unit, where she accused paramedics of trying to burn her house down. After a month or so on a strict drug regimen, her symptoms were greatly improved, and she was well enough to be released to her loving family.  

That seems like a good place to stop. We’ll be taking a break for the holidays, so the next blog will be in 2022! I hope you enjoyed this week’s blog and found it to be interesting and educational. Please feel free to share it with family and friends. Be sure to check out my YouTube channel with all of my videos, and I’d appreciate it if you would like, subscribe, leave comments, and share those vids! As always, my book Tales from the Couch has more educational topics and patient stories, and is available in office and on Amazon. 

Happy holidays! Be well people!

MGA

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Freaky phobias ,part deluxe

Freaky Phobias, part deux

Hello, people- I hope everyone had a great weekend! Last week, I introduced the subject of phobias, and we’ll continue that discussion today. Fear is an important evolutionary tool, allowing humans to survive dangerous encounters and develop appropriate responses to hazardous situations. But when fear becomes debilitating, when it becomes a greater threat than the actual person, place, or thing causing it, it has become a phobia. Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder where a person has a persistent, excessive, unrealistic fear of an object, person, animal, activity, or situation. That leaves the field pretty much wide open, and in fact, a person can have a phobia of almost anything. They’ll try very hard to avoid that thing, otherwise they’re basically forced to white knuckle through it with much anxiety and distress, potentially to the point that it produces physical symptoms like nausea and dizziness, and possibly even a panic attack.

Everyone has something they fear to some extent, and for most people, it doesn’t affect one’s quality of life. But for patients with diagnosable phobias, the level of fear and discomfort when confronted with specific objects or situations can be exceptional, and can significantly impact their daily life. Some phobias are very specific, so this limits the impact the phobia has. As an example, a person may only fear spiders and cats- meaning they have arachnophobia and ailurophobia- and so they live relatively free of anxiety simply by avoiding spiders and cats. But some phobias pose an issue in a wider variety of places and situations, so they affect people’s lives more drastically. For example, symptoms of acrophobia- the fear of heights- can be triggered by looking out the window of a high rise office building, by climbing a ladder, or by driving over a tall bridge, just to name a few. Because it comes into play in so many places and forms, acrophobia has a much greater impact on the person’s life, and it may influence or even dictate the person’s employment type, job location, driving route, recreational and social activities, and/ or home environment.

Cause and Risk Factors 

There is always an argument about whether a particular psychological trait or symptom is genetic in origin or a product of one’s environment… the old “nature vs. nurture” debate. Most of the time, the proper answer is “both,” and in fact, that’s the case with phobias. The reasons why phobias develop aren’t fully understood, but research does indicate that both genetic and environmental factors play a role. 

Specific phobias tend to begin in childhood, a time when developing brains are still learning appropriate ways to respond to the world around them, and phobias can start in any number of ways. A child may develop a phobia of dogs after being bitten by one, but there are many more subtle ways that a child’s brain can take in information that teaches them to fear something. For example, they could learn to fear a dog by watching a movie that features a scary dog, or by watching a family member respond in fear to a dog’s bark or presence. Ultimately, fear is easily passed from one person to the next, either through watching and learning, or through genetic inheritance.

Certain phobias have been clearly linked to a very bad first encounter with the feared object or situation, though researchers don’t know if this first encounter is required, or if phobias can simply occur in people who are more likely to have them. As to what makes a person more likely to have them, there is no phobia gene- it’s never that easy- but we know that when it comes to risk factors, there is a genetic component. Research and surveys indicate that individuals with a parent or a close relative suffering from a specific phobia are three times more likely to develop that same phobia. That said, more research is needed to elucidate the genes responsible for triggering these phobias. 

In addition to a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors, a person’s temperament can also contribute to risk of developing phobias. A negative affect, meaning a propensity to feel negative emotions such as disgust, anger, fear, or guilt, seems to increase the risk for a variety of anxiety disorders, including specific phobias. Behavioral inhibition, often due to parental overprotectiveness, especially in childhood, is another risk factor for phobia development. A history of physical and/ or sexual abuse also increases the likelihood of an individual developing a specific phobia.

Treatment

Phobias can be debilitating, but fortunately, there are ways to treat them. One treatment method that’s used very successfully is exposure therapy. We’ve discussed this before in relation to OCD; it’s a type of cognitive behavioral therapy, aka CBT, whereby you are repeatedly presented with your phobic trigger in a controlled manner, and you challenge yourself to get through it. It’s done in the presence of a therapist, and they essentially talk you through it, discussing what you feel, why you feel it, what is happening, and what you fear may happen. Afterwards, there’s usually discussion about feared outcome versus actual outcome, and what thoughts helped you get through the exposure. It’s often done in stages, as opposed to jumping straight in the deep end. For example, let’s say you have an insect phobia; you might start by just thinking about an insect, then move to looking at a picture of one, and then maybe being close to one in a terrarium, and eventually, even holding a living one. 

Anxiety reduction techniques may also be helpful in combating phobias, things like yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, and mindfulness. The ultimate goal is to be mindful of the trigger, as opposed to afraid of the trigger. Unfortunately, the majority of patients don’t seek treatment for phobias, and of those who do, many don’t follow through. As a result, only 20% percent of people recover completely from them; the majority of people experience a recurrence of their phobia, which is referred to as a relapse. Captain Obvious says if you have a phobia, your best bet is to get the help of a medical professional for treatment. 

Celebrity Phobias

It might (but really shouldn’t) surprise you to hear that celebrities have phobias too. Just for funsies, here are a few I found while surfing the interwebs.

Tyra Banks has been very open about her long standing fear of dolphins. She doesn’t swim in the ocean, because she imagines them swimming near her and touching her legs.

Christina Ricci has a fear of indoor plants, botanophobia, and says that touching a dirty houseplant feels like torture.

Khloe Kardashian has a phobia of belly buttons. Her half sister Kendall Jenner revealed that she struggles with trypophobia, an aversion to the sight of holes. She says that pancakes, honeycomb, and lotus heads are too much for her to take. 

Nicole Kidman has been deathly afraid of butterflies since childhood, and would do anything to avoid having to go through the front gate of her home if even one butterfly was sitting on it.

Jennifer Aniston has a serious fear of being underwater, due to a traumatic experience she had as a child.

Billy Bob Thornton has a fear of antiques; according to him “…old, mildewy French/English/Scottish stuff, dusty heavy drapes and big tables with carved lions’ heads…” creeps him out.

Oprah Winfrey has an intense dislike for chewing gum that goes back to her childhood days. Growing up poor, her grandmother used to try to save gum to chew more than once, so she put it on the bedpost, or stuck it on the cabinet for later. Apparently little Oprah used to bump into it, and it would rub up against her, and gross her out. Evidently, she even barred gum-chewing in her offices.

Kyra Sedgwick is apparently terrified of talking food. Her husband, Kevin Bacon, actually had to turn down an apparently lucrative offer to be featured in ads for M&M’s for fear that she would leave him.

Katie Holmes has a longtime fear of raccoons, and once barked at one in an effort to scare it away. It worked… it left, but her phobia stayed.

Jake Gyllenhaal developed a phobia of ostriches while filming “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” after the animal trainers warned him not to make any noise around them, because “they’ll tear out your eyes and rip out your heart.” 

Helen Mirren has a fear of phones, and evidently never returns calls because the phone makes her so nervous. 

One of Channing Tatum’s biggest fears is porcelain dolls. Yep, Magic Mike is afraid of dolls.

Tyrese Gibson has no problem performing stunts in action movies, but he won’t get near an owl for any amount of money.

Singer Adele has a serious fear of seagulls after a scary incident in her childhood, when one flew in and swiped an ice cream she was eating. Its claw scratched her shoulder, leaving physical- and emotional- scars. 

Megan Fox can’t stand the feeling of dry paper, so when she reads through scripts, she constantly licks her finger to keep it wet.

Alfred Hitchcock lived with ovophobia, the fear of eggs. People who worked with him claimed cracking an egg made him gag, and he once told a reporter “…Have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its yellow liquid?”

Actor, producer, and musician Johnny Depp has a phobia hat trick- three phobias- clowns, spiders, and ghosts.

Sean “P. Diddy” Combs has a phobia of people with a long second toe, to the point that it influences his dating life. He must see the toe on the first date… it’s mandatory. He may not go for a kiss, but he’s definitely going to check out that second toe, to see if it’s too long.

Ellen Page has a phobia of tennis balls, and can’t even watch a tennis match on television. 

Kristen Bell is afraid of pruney fingers, specifically the feeling of pruney fingers on normal skin, and even wears gloves when she goes in the water to avoid touching herself with her own pruney fingers. 

Some fun phobia facts…

In the United States, approximately 19 million people suffer from various phobias, with varying levels of severity.

The prevalence of phobias is approximately 5% in children, 16% in teenagers, and 3% to 5% in adults.

Women are nearly twice as likely to be affected by a phobia as men are, but men are more likely to seek treatment for phobias.

Symptoms of phobias tend to begin in early to mid childhood, with the average age of onset being about 7 years old.

While specific phobias usually begin in childhood, their incidence peaks during midlife and old age. 

Phobias can persist for several years, decades, or be present throughout one’s life in 10% to 30% of cases.

The presence of a phobia is strongly predictive for the onset of other anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders. 

Specific phobias can and do affect people of all ages, backgrounds, and/ or socioeconomic classes.

A part of the brain called the amygdala is responsible for triggering specific phobias.  

Unusual Phobias

There are approximately 400 specific phobias, and new ones are added to the list as necessary. Some are rare, unusual, or downright weird. Here are a few of those. 

Ablutophobia, fear of bathing

This phobia can sometimes be the result of a traumatic, water-related incident, especially if it involves bathing during juvenile years, though many sufferers will grow out of this phobia as they get older. This phobia can cause a great deal of social anxiety and friction as it can often result in unpleasant body odor. 

Anatidaephobia, fear of being watched by a duck

This is funny, but it’s for real. People with this phobia fear that no matter where they are, or what they’re doing, a duck is watching them. Not a hen, not a rabbit, specifically a duck, like Daffy. 

Arachibutyrophobia, fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. 

While this may sound like a minor issue, this phobia likely stems from a fear of choking or inability to open one’s mouth. While some sufferers may be able to eat small amounts of peanut butter, especially if it’s not very sticky, many will not eat peanut butter at all for fear of it sticking to the roof of their mouth.

Arithmophobia, fear of math

While plenty of people hated math class, arithmophobia takes this anxiety to the next level. This phobia isn’t so much a fear of numbers or symbols, as it is a fear of being forced into a situation where one has to do math, especially if that person’s math skills are subpar.

Chirophobia, fear of hands

This phobia can be a fear of one’s own hands or another’s. This is often the result of a traumatic event like a severe hand injury, or a persistent condition like arthritis.

Chloephobia, fear of newspapers

This phobia is often connected to the touch, sound, and smell of newspaper. Sufferers may become anxious at the sound of a rustling newspaper, or from the smell of newspaper ink and paper.

Eisoptrophobia, fear of mirrors

Sometimes referred to as spectrophobia or catoptrophobia, sufferers are often unable to look at themselves in a mirror. In more severe cases, this anxiety can even extend to reflective surfaces like glass or standing water. One genesis of this phobia revolves around the superstitions tied to mirrors, the fear of seeing something supernatural or breaking a mirror and being cursed with bad luck. In other cases, this phobia can stem from low self-esteem and an aversion to seeing oneself.

Geniophobia, fear of chins

This one sounds a little unreal, because how can anyone fear a chin, but people with this phobia have an aversion to chins, and cannot interact or look at people whose chins bother them. It’s unclear if this is all chins or Jay Leno chins…

Genuphobia, fear of knees or kneeling

People who have this phobia have a fear of knees, their own and/ or someone else’s. This gives me flashbacks to confirmation classes, with all the kneeling, aka genuflecting.  

Globophobia, fear of balloons

This phobia often originates from a traumatic event, often when a popping balloon causes a scare at a young age. Sufferers of this phobia can have varying levels of anxiety, with some casually avoiding balloons, while other, more severe cases are prohibited from being anywhere near a balloon. Globophobia is also often linked to the fear of clowns, coulrophobia.

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia- I kid you not- is the phobia of long words. Of course a 15 syllable word represents this fear…can people with it even say what they’re afraid of? Hmmm…

Omphalophobia, fear of belly buttons

Just like Khloe Kardashian! Sufferers will often avoid areas like the beach, where exposed belly buttons are common. This phobia can be the result of a previous infection in the umbilicus, but can also just be random. In severe cases, sufferers may cover up their own belly button with tape or a bandaid. Interestingly, this phobia may be related to trypophobia, the fear of holes that Kendall Jenner, Khloe Kardashian’s half sister has… hello, genetics! 

Optophobia, fear of opening your eyes

This phobia is generally the result of a traumatic event, especially during childhood. This phobia can be extremely debilitating, as sufferers will often avoid leaving their homes, and naturally seek out dark or dimly lit areas.

Nomophobia, fear of not having your cell phone

This is an anxiety that so many people feel to varying extents, but it becomes a phobia when the anxiety turns into a consistent fear or panic at the mere thought of being without a mobile phone. This phobia also extends to having a phone with a dead battery or being out of service, thereby making the phone unusable. Someone with nomophobia will feel intense anxiety if they have no phone signal, have run out of data or battery power, or even if their phone is out of sight. Nomophpia is often connected with an addiction to phones and the need to be constantly connected. A recent study showed that many people under the age of 30 check their phone at least once every 10 minutes- 96 times a day- so this is far more common than you can imagine.  

Plutophobia, fear of wealth

This phobia deals less with the fear of physical monetary currency and more with the anxiety around wealth or being wealthy. Sufferers dread the responsibility and weight that accompanies wealth, and fear that they will be targeted for their wealth, and subsequently put into danger. They may even sabotage their career or money-making opportunities in an attempt to avoid feeling it.

Pogonophobia, fear of facial hair

This fear is often the result of a traumatic experience with someone who has significant facial hair or a beard. Beards also partially hide someone’s face, creating an additional layer of anxiety for those that struggle in social situations, or reading social cues. In more severe cases, a sufferer of pogonophobia may not even be able to look at a picture of someone with a beard.

Sanguivoriphobia, fear of vampires

Sufferers have a fear of vampires and blood eaters. In fact, the word literally translates to ‘fear of blood eaters’. At least people with this won’t have to sit through the torture of the Twilight movie series. 

Somniphobia, fear of falling asleep

While some people just can’t do without their regular eight hours a night, sufferers of this phobia may associate going to bed with dying, or fear losing time while asleep. 

Turophobia, fear of cheese

A fear of cheese can often be traced back to an incident with cheese, especially in early childhood. Being forced to eat cheese, especially when lactose intolerant, can create an aversion to, and anxiety towards, cheese. More severe cases can even result in fear just from the sight or smell of cheese.

Xanthophobia, fear of the color yellow

This is a difficult phobia to deal with, as some things in nature and many man made things are yellow. Sufferers may fear something seemingly benign like a flower, school bus, or wheel of cheese. This phobia could be an artifact, originating from survival-based evolution, as animals that are brightly colored, like frogs or snakes, are sometimes poisonous or venomous.

That’s a good place to end for this week, before everyone develops bibliophobia, the fear of reading! I hope you enjoyed this blog and found it to be interesting and educational. Please feel free to share it with family and friends. Be sure to check out my YouTube channel with all of my videos, and I’d appreciate it if you would like, subscribe, leave comments, and share those vids! As always, my book Tales from the Couch has more educational topics and patient stories, and is available in officeand on Amazon. 

Thank you and be well people!

MGA

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Freaky phobias

Freaky Phobias

Hello, people… welcome back to the blog! Last week, we finished a two part series on N-acetyl cysteine, the latest and greatest amino acid supplement that’s showing major promise in helping to treat some heavy hitting psych disorders, especially bipolar depression. This week, I want to talk about a very intriguing topic… phobias.  

What is a phobia? A phobia is an irrational fear of something that’s unlikely to cause you any harm. I want to highlight the most important point here: irrational fear. Irrational, without rationale. What does that mean exactly? It generally means not thinking, but sometimes it means thinking, but without logic. So a phobia is when you’re afraid of something, often without even thinking about it, sometimes despite thinking about it- which just causes more anxiety btw- and the thing that you’re afraid of is usually nothing to be afraid of in the first place. But despite that fact, the fear can be intense. The word phobia comes from the Greek word phobos, which means fear or horror. Generally, the name of the phobia is a telling label, one basically made up as the need arises, typically by combining a Greek (or sometimes Latin) prefix that describes the phobia, along with the -phobia suffix. For example, the fear of water is named by combining hydro (water) and phobia (fear), so you end up with hydrophobia.

When someone has a phobia, they experience very intense fear of a certain object, thought, or situation. This fear is more extreme than fear in the normal everyday sense, and it develops when a person has an exaggerated or irrational perception of danger about a particular thing. But where’s the line? Being a little wary of spiders isn’t the same as being arachnophobic, right? And btw phobias aren’t always entirely irrational… some spiders ARE dangerous- they can kill you- so they should be avoided. But a phobia will assume that ALL spiders- even a teeny tiny harmless house spider- is a real threat. That’s how phobias are a little different than regular fears, because they cause significant distress, potentially enough to interfere with life at home, work, and/ or school. You’re afraid of serial killers, I’m afraid of serial killers, I imagine everyone is afraid of serial killers. Actually, are serial killers afraid of serial killers? Hmmm… don’t know. Anyway, is this a phobia? Not for most folks, but it sure is for some. What’s the difference? It has to do with interference. Why and how does that phobia, that thing, interfere with your life? Because people with phobias actively avoid the phobic object or situation- that’s another difference- they’ll do nearly anything to avoid it- or else they’ll just white knuckle through it with super intense fear and anxiety. Are you so afraid of serial killers that you avoid going to a nearly deserted truck stop diner at midnight, or so afraid of them that you refuse to leave your house… ever? If you’re the latter, you might have foniasophobia, fear of dying at the hands of a serial killer. 

Ultimately, phobias are a type of anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are very, very common- I see them all day long- and they’re estimated to affect more than 30 percent of U.S. adults at some point in their lives. Specific phobias affect fewer people, with an estimated 12.5 percent of American adults experiencing one at some time in their lives. You can have a phobia without having a true anxiety disorder, and you can have an anxiety disorder without having a phobia, though I can’t think off the top of my head of a patient with a generalized anxiety disorder that hasn’t told me about a specific phobia, though I’m sure there are some. 

In the shrink bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, aka the DSM-5, it outlines several of the most common phobias, and they typically fall within five general categories:

-Fears related to animals, like spiders, dogs, and insects

-Fears related to the natural environment, like heights, the dark, and thunder

-Fears related to blood, injury, or medical issues, like injections, blood draws, and medical catastrophes, like falls and broken bones

-Fears related to specific situations, like flying, riding in an elevator, being on an escalator, and driving over bridges

-Fears of other more random things like loud noises or choking

The thing is, these categories encompass an infinite number of specific objects and situations. A person can conceivably be afraid of anything they can physically do, think about, or feel. And let me tell you, I’ve heard some doozies. Some people are genuinely afraid of some weird stuff! Not even making fun… most of the time, they’ll even tell you it’s weird too. One of my patients that I’ve treated forever has a wind phobia, anemophobia, or sometimes called ancraophobia. Whatever it’s called, she hates wind… anything more than a light breeze is like nails on a chalkboard for her. What’s really wild is that this very specific, and fairly rare phobia appears to be genetic for her- it runs in her family- and she never even knew that until they all “hurricaned” together several years ago. She, her father, who evidently never really admitted it, and her aunt on her father’s side… all three of them were climbing the walls together during the hurricane. And apparently she always hated wind. As a kid, she would get up in the middle of the night… even if, maybe even especially, when it was storming… and hello, windy… and climb up on a barstool to take down her mom’s windchimes! Every one of them, and evidently she had a lot. Why? Because they drove her looney, listening to the wind blow them around… ding!! Ching ching bing!!! Ding ding da ding!!! She told me that they all made different noises, varying tones, high and low, and she said that every one of them just reminded her how bloody windy it was. For her mom, that sound was relaxing, but for her… not so much! Now, was she actually worried that the wind would blow her away, like Dorothy, off to Oz? Nope. She always knew that wouldn’t happen. She knew she was perfectly safe in her concrete block constructed house, but nonetheless, the wind made her beyond anxious. That, my friends, is a phobia. Totally irrational. And she’d tell you so herself.

Phobias come in all shapes and sizes, and because there really are an infinite number of objects and situations, the list of specific phobias is very, very long. Did you know that there’s even such a thing as a fear of fears? Phobophobia. How about that? And it’s actually more common than you might imagine. That’s one of the problems with fear, it often begets itself. If you have a panic attack because you go sailing in a 28 foot sloop in 12 foot seas, you may end up with not just a phobia about sailing, but a phobia of water and waves. And because the impact of the fear was so intense that it produced physical symptoms of a panic attack, you can even wind up with a phobia of having a panic attack. Yep, and you can be so afraid of having a panic attack that you can cause yourself to have one. Kid you not.  

While there are potentially hundreds, maybe even thousands of different types of phobias, there are some that affect the population at much higher rates than others. Here are a few of the most commonly diagnosed phobias, along with some interesting points on each.

Arachnophobia 

The fear of spiders, or arachnids, is possibly the most well-known of all phobias, and it’s estimated that arachnophobia affects roughly 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men.

Ophidiophobia 

Ophidiophobia is the fear of snakes. Interestingly, both ophidiophobia and arachnophobia are thought to be rooted in human evolution, meaning we evolved to fear these critters. It was a matter of survival, so humand learned it generation over generation, to the point it stuck in our DNA. Pretty amazing, no? 

Acrophobia

This is the fear of heights, which affects over 20 million people. Acrophobia can affect a person in a variety of situations, including air travel, crossing bridges, and even travelling up an escalator. It can be extremely limiting, because this fear in particular is frequently associated with anxiety attacks as well as avoidance of the phobia trigger, and this often prevents people with acrophobia from participating in activities that most of us take for granted.

Cynophobia

This is the fear of dogs, and unfortunately, often stems from a personal traumatic experience in the patient’s past, maybe a bite or an attack. I’m a dog lover, and have never had a negative experience with a dog, so while I can’t understand it from an experiential standpoint, I have great empathy for people that are so afraid of dogs for whatever reason that they miss out on the love and companionship they can provide. Cynophobia is an interesting one to me, because it is one of the most commonly treated phobias. In fact, 36 percent of all patients who seek phobia treatment actually do so for cynophobia, which gives you an idea of how much it impacts their lives.

Social Phobia 

Social phobia involves fear centered around social situations and interactions. Among the most common symptoms of social phobia is fear of public speaking, but it can center on any number of situations, like starting conversations, speaking on the phone, meeting new people, speaking to authority figures, and even eating and drinking in front of others. Social phobia typically first appears during puberty, and it can be lifelong if not properly treated.  

Agoraphobia 

Agoraphobia is the fear of entering open or crowded places, of leaving one’s home, or of being in places or situations that trigger a feeling of helplessness, or where a quick escape would be difficult, such as being on public transportation, like an airplane. Agoraphobia is its own unique diagnosis, and is often associated with panic disorder and panic attacks; roughly one-third of patients with an existing panic disorder will also go on to develop agoraphobia as a comorbidity. Statistically, it’s more prevalent in women than men, with two-thirds of patients being female.

Aerophobia 

Speaking of being on airplanes, aerophobia is the fear of flying, and it affects an estimated 8 million people. Given today’s world of travel and transportation, this one can be particularly difficult to avoid, but it can be addressed with various techniques, like exposure therapy. More on that next week.

That’s a good place to stop. Next week, more on freaky phobias; among other things, we’ll talk about how to rid yourself of them. Because while you might assume that once a person gets to the other side of their phobia and knows they lived through it, that it would go away all by itself… you’d be wrong most of the time. Wah wah waaaah. We’re going to talk about just why the hell that is. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog and found it to be interesting and educational. Please feel free to share it with family and friends. Be sure to check out my YouTube channel with all of my videos, and I’d appreciate it if you would like, subscribe, leave comments, and share those vids! As always, my book Tales from the Couch has more educational topics and patient stories, and is available in office and on Amazon. 

Thank you and be well people!

MGA

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Xanax Withdrawl

Xanax Withdrawal

Welcome back, people! Last week we continued our foray into all things Xanax and talked about dependence and use disorder. The next step in the chain- withdrawal- can be a special kind of beastie, definitely deserving of its own blog, so this week will be all about Xanax withdrawal.

As I mentioned last week, some folks can take their bit of Xanax a couple of times a day as directed for umpteen years, and never develop a tolerance or pathological dependence. Others start out taking it as directed, but develop a tolerance and maybe start to abuse it- take too much too often- and then begin to develop a more pathological dependency. Others may abuse it recreationally on occasion, to netflix and chill, find they really like it, then develop a severe addiction. It may not sound like these people have much in common, but they do. When they stop taking it, they’re all going to go through withdrawal.

They won’t do so alone, though. In 2017, doctors wrote nearly 45 million prescriptions for Xanax, so it’s no surprise that these prescribing practices have contributed to thousands of cases of abuse and dependence. With those numbers, there has been all sorts of research and stats examined on benzos, and I read that in 2018, an estimated 5.4 million people over the age of 12 misused prescription benzodiazepines like Xanax. That’s a lot of people, people.

To many patients that take their Xanax exactly as prescribed, it seems to come as a surprise that they’re facing a withdrawal experience, but Xanax doesn’t discriminate- so anyone taking enough of it for more than a few weeks will develop a physical dependence. Once you have become physiologically dependent on a drug, you will experience withdrawal symptoms when you stop or reduce your dose. Simple as that.

Withdrawal is different for everyone. Depending on the dose and how often you’ve been using it, the withdrawal experience typically ranges from uncomfortable to very unpleasant, but it can also be medically dangerous. The only safe way to quit is to slowly taper down the dose under the direction of a physician, or in an in-patient treatment center setting, depending on the situation. If you’ve been taking high doses of Xanax several times a day, then quitting is going to take a great deal of time, patience, and determination. Please note that quitting cold turkey can cause extremely dangerous withdrawal symptoms. This can include delirium, which is a state characterized by abrupt, temporary cognitive changes that affect behavior; so you can be irrational, agitated, and disoriented- not a good combo. Sudden withdrawal can also cause potentially lethal grand mal (aka tonic-clonic) seizures. These are like electrical storms in the brain, where you lose consciousness and have violent muscular contractions throughout the body. It’s not a risk you want to take, people- so don’t do this on your own! Even if you’ve been taking Xanax illicitly, that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. Just fess up to a physician and tell them exactly how much you’ve been taking so they can design a taper schedule for you, or help you find a treatment center. There is a lot of help available if you make the effort.  

Tapering your dose is the best course of action for managing withdrawal symptoms, but that doesn’t mean it’s a picnic in the shade. While you taper down the dose, you’ll likely experience varying degrees of physical and mental discomfort. You may feel surges of anxiety, agitation, and restlessness, along with some unusual physical sensations, like feeling as though your skin is tingling or you’re crawling out of your skin. But keep in mind that these are all temporary. 

Signs and Symptoms

The major signs and symptoms of Xanax withdrawal vary from person to person. Research indicates that roughly 40% of people taking benzodiazepines for more than six months will experience moderate to severe withdrawal symptoms, while the remaining 60% can expect milder symptoms. It’s very common to feel nervous, jumpy, and on edge during your taper. And because Xanax induces a sedative effect, when the dose is reduced, most people will experience a brief increase in their anxiety levels. Depending on the severity of your symptoms, you may experience a level of anxiety that’s actually worse than your pre-treatment level. Support from mental health professionals can be very beneficial during and after withdrawal, as therapy and counseling may help you control and manage the emotional symptoms of benzo withdrawal.

Physical Withdrawal Symptoms

As a central nervous system depressant, Xanax serves to slow down heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature in the body- in addition to minimizing anxiety, stress, and panic. Xanax may also help to reduce the risk of epileptic seizures. Once the brain becomes used to this drug slowing all of these functions down on a regular basis, when it is suddenly removed, these CNS functions generally rebound quickly, and that is the basis for most withdrawal symptoms. Symptoms can start within hours of the last dose, and they can peak in severity within 1 to 4 days. The physical signs of Xanax withdrawal can include: headache, blurred vision, muscle aches, tension in the jaw and/ or teeth pain, tremors, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, numbness of fingers, tingling in arms and legs, sensitivity to light and sound, alteration in sense of smell, loss of appetite, insomnia, cramps, heart palpitations, hypertension, sweating, fever, delirium, and seizures.

Psychological Withdrawal Symptoms

Xanax, as a benzodiazepine, acts on the reward and motivation regions of the brain, and when a dependency is formed, these parts of the brain will be affected as well. When an individual dependent on Xanax then tries to quit taking the drug, the brain needs some time to return to normal levels of functioning. Captain Obvious says that whenever you stop a benzo, because it acts as an anxiolytic, you’re going to experience a sudden increase in anxiety levels. While there are degrees of everything, the psychological symptoms of Xanax withdrawal can be significant, as the lack of Xanax during withdrawal causes the opposite of a Xanax calm, which is to say something akin to panic. At the very least, that can make you overly sensitive, and less able to deal with any adverse or undesired feelings. Withdrawal can leave people feeling generally out of sorts, irritable, and jumpy, while some individuals have also reported feeling deeply depressed. Unpredictable shifts in mood have been reported as well, such as quickly going from elation to being depressed. Feelings of paranoia can also be associated with Xanax withdrawal.

Nightmares are often reported as a side effect of withdrawal. I included insomnia in physical symptoms, but trouble sleeping can also be a psychological symptom, as it is both mentally and physically taxing. People can be overtaken by anxiety and stress during withdrawal, and that may cause this trouble sleeping at night, which then contributes to feelings of anxiety and agitation, so it’s a cycle that can be tough to break free of. Difficulty concentrating is also reported, and research has found that people can have cognitive problems for weeks after stopping Xanax. Ditto for memory problems. Research shows that long-term Xanax abuse can lead to dementia and memory problems in the short-term, although this is typically restored within a few months of the initial withdrawal. Hallucinations, while rare, are sometimes reported when people suddenly stop using Xanax as well. Suicidal ideation is sometimes reported, as the anxiety, stress, and excessive nervousness that can occur during withdrawal can lead to, or coexist with suicidal thoughts. Finally, though rare, psychosis may occur when a person stops using Xanax cold turkey, rather than being weaned off of it.

Xanax Withdrawal Timeline

Xanax is used so commonly for anxiety and panic disorders because it works quickly, but that also means it stops working quickly and leaves the body quickly. Xanax is considered a short-acting benzodiazepine, with an average half-life of 11 hours. As soon as the drug stops being active in the plasma, usually 6 to 12 hours after the last dose, withdrawal symptoms can start. Withdrawal is generally at its worst on the second day, and improves by the fourth or fifth day, but some symptoms can last significantly longer. If you go cold turkey and don’t taper your dose, your withdrawal symptoms will grow increasingly intense, and there really is no way to predict how bad they may get, or how you’ll be affected. 

Unfortunately, five days doesn’t signal the end of withdrawal for some people, as some may experience protracted withdrawal. Estimates suggest that about 10% to 25% of long-term benzodiazepine users experience protracted withdrawal, which is essentially a prolonged withdrawal experience marked by drug cravings and waves of psychological symptoms that come and go. Protracted withdrawal can last for several weeks, months, or even years if not addressed by a mental health professional. In fact, these lasting symptoms may lead to relapse if not addressed with continued treatment, such as regular therapy.

Factors Affecting Withdrawal

Withdrawal is different for each individual, and the withdrawal timeline may be affected by several different factors. The more dependent the body and brain are to Xanax, the longer and more intense withdrawal is likely to be. Regular dose, way of ingestion, combination with other drugs or alcohol, age at first use, genetics, and length of time using or abusing Xanax can all contribute to how quickly a dependence is formed and how strong it may be. High stress levels, family or prior history of addiction, mental health issues, underlying medical complications, and environmental factors can also make a difference in how long withdrawal may last for a particular individual and how many side effects are present. 

Coping with Xanax Withdrawal

The best way to avoid a difficult and potentially dangerous withdrawal is to slowly taper down your dose of Xanax, meaning to take progressively smaller doses over the course of up to several weeks. By keeping a small amount of a benzo in the bloodstream, drug cravings and withdrawal may be controlled for a period of time until the drug is weaned out of the system completely. It may sound like designing a taper would be a no-brainer, but it’s definitely not recommended to taper without a physician’s guidance. Why? Because Xanax is a short-acting drug, your body metabolizes it very quickly. Controlling that is challenging because the amount of drug in your system goes up and down with its metabolism. To help you avoid these peaks and valleys, doctors often switch you from Xanax to a longer acting benzo during withdrawal, as it may make the process easier. And believe me, that’s what you want. If the physician goes this switch route, once you’ve stabilized on that med, you’ll slowly taper down from that a little bit at a time, just as you would with Xanax. 

Another reason not to play doctor on this one is if you start to have breakthrough withdrawal symptoms when your dose is reduced, your physician can pause or stretch out your taper. It’s up to him or her, through discussion with you, to design the best tapering schedule for your individual needs. Sometimes it’s a fluid and changing beastie.

In addition, adjunct medications like antidepressants, beta-blockers, or other pharmaceuticals/ nutraceuticals may be effective in treating specific symptoms of Xanax withdrawal, and you’ll need a physician to recommend and/ or prescribe those as well. 

Alleviating Symptoms of Withdrawal

An individual may notice a change in appetite and weight loss during Xanax withdrawal, so it’s important to make every attempt to eat healthy and balanced meals during this time. It may sound obvious, but a multivitamin including vitamin B6, thiamine, and folic acid is especially helpful, as these are often depleted in addiction and withdrawal. There are some herbal remedies that may be helpful during withdrawal, such as valerian root and chamomile for sleep. Meditation and mindfulness are very useful for managing blood pressure and anxiety during withdrawal, so be sure to check out my March 15 blog for more on mindfulness. Considering the insomnia and fatigue that may occur during withdrawal, it may seem counterintuitive to commit to exercise, but it has been shown to have positive effects on mitigating withdrawal symptoms and decreasing cravings. Exercise stimulates the same pleasure and reward systems in the brain, so it stands to reason that it can also help to lift feelings of depression or anxiety that may accompany physical withdrawal symptoms.

Xanax Withdrawal Safety

Some of the things I’ve mentioned are so important they bear repeating. Xanax should not be stopped suddenly, or cold turkey, and vital signs like blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, and temperature need to be closely monitored during withdrawal. This is because these may all go up rapidly during this time, and this can contribute to seizures that can lead to coma and even death. 

People with a history of complicated withdrawal syndromes and people with underlying health issues should work very closely with their physician during withdrawal, as should the elderly and people with cognitive issues, as there can be unique risks involved. If you have acquired your Xanax illicitly, you can still work with a doctor to taper down your dose. Start by visiting a primary care physician or urgent care center and tell them that you are in, or are planning to be in, benzodiazepine withdrawal. If you don’t have insurance, visit a community health center. If you plan to or have become pregnant, you will need to discuss your options with your prescribing physician and OB/GYN about the risks and benefits of continuing versus tapering Xanax or other benzos. Some women continue taking them throughout their pregnancy, while others follow a dose tapering schedule.

The key to achieving the goal of getting off of Xanax is to follow the tapering schedule to the very end. By the end of your taper, you might be cutting pills into halves or quarters. Note that some individuals may be better suited for a harm reduction approach, in which the taper leads to a maintenance dose rather than abstinence. If you’re very concerned about the risks involved in Xanax tapering for any reason, discuss these concerns with your physician, because you may be better suited for inpatient detoxification. While this is more expensive, it is covered by many insurance plans.

No matter how you slice it, quitting Xanax takes time, patience, and determination. If you’ve been using it for longer than a few months, quitting can be hard, and there will be days where you want to give up and give in. But with medical supervision and support, you can be successful, and in the long-term, the health benefits are considerable. Withdrawal isn’t a picnic, but if Xanax is both the alternative to it, and a problem for you, it beats that alternative hands down. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog and found it to be interesting and educational. If you did, let me know. If you didn’t, let me know that too!

Please feel free to share the love! Share blogs and YouTube videos with family and friends. 

Be sure to check out my YouTube channel with all of my videos, and I’d appreciate it if you would like, subscribe, and share those vids too! 

And if you like what you see and want more of it, or if you want a specific topic, leave it in the comments- I love reading them! 

As always, my book Tales from the Couch has more educational topics and patient stories, and is available in the office and on Amazon. 

Thank you and be well people!

MGA

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Marianne asks “how can I get off klonopin’’

A woman named Marianne messaged me wanting to know how to get off of Klonopin, which is a benzodiazepine, or benzo for short. She has been taking them regularly for more than twenty years, which is a very long time to be on a benzo. That will certainly complicate things. Before I go into how to stop taking benzos, I want to tell you what they are and what they do. 

What are they?

Benzos are medications designed to treat anxiety, panic disorders, seizures, muscle tension, and insomnia. Some of the most commonly prescribed benzos include: Xanax (alprazolam), Klonopin (clonazepam),Valium (diazepam), Restoril (temazepam),
Librium (chlordiazepoxide), and Ativan (lorazepam). A 2013 survey found that Xanax and its generic form alprazolam is one of the most prescribed psychiatric drugs in the United States, with approximately 50 million prescriptions written that year. Unfortunately, this class of drug is also highly abused. Another 2013 survey found that 1.7 million Americans aged 12 and older were considered current abusers of tranquilizer medications like benzos. When abused, benzos produce a high in addition to the calm and relaxed sensations individuals feel when they take them. 

How do they work?

Benzos increase the levels of a chemical in the brain called GABA. Meaningless trivia: GABA stands for gamma amino-butyric acid. GABA works as a kind of naturally occurring tranquilizer, and it calms down the nerve firings related to stress and the stress reaction. Benzos also work to enhance levels of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is the feel good chemical, the chemical messenger involved in reward and pleasure in the brain. In simple terms, benzos slow down nerve activity in the brain and central nervous system, which decreases stress and its physical and emotional side effects.  

Why can using them be problematic?

Benzos have multiple side effects that are both physical and psychological in nature, and these can cause harm with both short-term  and extended usage. Some potential short-term side effects of benzos include, but are not limited to: drowsiness, mental confusion, trouble concentrating, short-term memory loss, blurred vision, slurred speech, lack of motor control, slow breathing, and muscle weakness. Long-term use of benzos also causes all of the above, but can also cause changes to the brain as well as mental health symptoms like mood swings, hallucinations, and depression. Fortunately, some of the changes made by benzos to the different regions of the brain after prolonged use may be reversible after being free from benzos for an extended period of time. On the scarier flip side of that coin, benzos may in fact predispose you to memory and cognitive disorders like dementia and Alzheimer’s. They’re many studies currently focusing on these predispositions. A recent study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found a definitive link between benzo usage and Alzheimer’s disease. People taking benzos for more than six months had an 84% higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia, versus those who didn’t take benzos. Long-acting benzos like Valium were more likely to increase these risks than shorter-acting benzos like Ativan or Xanax. Further, they found that these changes may not be reversible, and that the risk increased with age. Speaking of age, there are increased concerns in the elderly population when it comes to benzo usage. Benzos are increasingly being prescribed to the elderly population, many of which are used long-term, which increases the potential for cognitive and memory deficits. As people age, metabolism slows down. Since benzos are stored in fat cells, they remain active in an older person’s body for longer than in a younger person’s body, which increases the drug effects and risks due to the higher drug concentrations, like falls and car accidents. For all of these reasons, benzos should be used with caution in the elderly population. 

A big problem with taking benzos for an extended period is tolerance and dependency. Benzos are widely considered to be highly addictive. Remember that benzos work by increasing GABA and dopamine in the central nervous system, calming and pleasing the brain, giving it the feel goods. After even just a few weeks of taking benzos regularly, the brain may learn to expect the regular dose of benzos and stop working to produce these feel good chemicals on its own without them. Your brain figures, “why do the work if it’s done for me?” You really can’t blame the brain for that! It has become dependent on the benzo. But as you continue to use benzos, you develop higher and higher tolerance, meaning that it takes more and more of the drug to produce the regular desired effect. This tolerance and dependence stuff really ticks off your brain. It’s screaming “why aren’t these pills working anymore?!” The answer is that it has become dependent and tolerant, so it needs more. Just to prove its point, it makes you feel anxious, restless, and irritable as it screams “gimme gimme more more more!!!” The problem is that the body is metabolizing the benzo more quickly, essentially causing withdrawl symptoms, and a higher dose is needed. The longer you’re on a benzo, the more you’ll need. It’s a vicious cycle and it’s sometimes tough to manage clinically. 

The most severe form of physical harm caused by benzos is overdose. This occurs when a person takes too much of the drug at once and overloads the brain and body. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites drug overdose as the number one cause of injury death in the United States. A 2013 survey reported that nearly 7,000 people died from a benzo overdose in that year. Since benzos are tranquilizers and sedatives, they depress the central nervous system, lowering heart rate, core body temperature, blood pressure, and respiration. Generally, in the case of an overdose, these vital life functions simply get too low.  

When combining other drugs with benzos, obviously the risk of overdose or other negative outcome increases exponentially. But mixing benzos with alcohol is a special case, deserving of a strong warning as it is life-threatening. BENZOS + ALCOHOL = DEAD. One of the most common and successful unintentional and intentional suicide acts in my patient population is mixing benzos with alcohol. The combo is lethal, plain and simple. The body actually forgets to breathe. People pass out and just never wake up. If you’re reading this and you take benzos with alcohol and you’re thinking that you don’t know what the big deal is, you do it all the time and have never had a problem, then my response to you is that you’re living on borrowed time, and I strongly suggest you stop one of the two, the booze or the benzos, take your pick. 

What about withdrawl from benzos?

Benzo withdrawal can be notoriously difficult. It is actually about the hardest group of drugs to get off of. The level of difficulty is based on what benzo you’ve been taking, how much you’ve been taking, and how long you’ve been taking it. Obviously, if you’ve been on benzos for 25 years, it’s not going to be a walk in the park. To be honest, it’s going to be a rough road. Sorry Marianne. But it can be done. The first and most important thing is that you should never just stop benzos on your own, as it can be very dangerous and can include long or multiple grand mal seizures. Withdrawal from benzos should be done slowly through medical detox with a professional. It is best done with an addiction specialist like myself, because a specialist has the most current knowledge and experience. This is the safest way to purge the drugs from the brain and body while decreasing and managing withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings. As for the symptoms of withdrawl, these can include mood swings, short-term memory loss, seizure, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, depression, suppressed appetite, hallucinations, and cognitive difficulties. Stopping benzos after dependency may also lead to a rebound effect. This is a sort of overexcitement of the nerves that have been suppressed for so long by the benzos, and symptoms can include an elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. There may also be a return of the issues that lead you to take the benzos in the first place, insomnia, anxiety, and panic symptoms, and they can possibly be even worse than before. 

I’m sure that just about everyone currently taking benzos is thinking “I’m NEVER stopping!” right about now. It is not easy to do, but there is a way to manage all of this, to come off of the benzo and deal with all of the physical and cognitive aspects of withdrawl. I do it everyday. I set up a tapering schedule to lessen the specific benzo dosage over time, sometimes over a period of months. I will also often add or switch to a long acting benzo, which can be very helpful. I use several drugs to deal with the withdrawl symptoms: clonidine for tremor and high blood pressure, neurontin for pain and to help prevent seizures, anti-psychotic like seroquel for sleep, and an anti-depressant for depression, thank you Captain Obvious. The drug regimen varies from patient to patient. I also utilize psychotherapy to help work out the psychological kinks associated with withdrawl and rebound effect symptoms. Another trick I strongly recommend to many of my patients, not just those withdrawing from alcohol or any drugs, is transcranial magnetic stimulation or TMS. This is a non-invasive procedure done in the office that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression and anxiety, and I’ve found that it seems to calm the nerves and offer relief to some people in withdrawl. Electrodes are placed on the forehead and behind the ears and painless stimuli are passed into certain regions of the brain for 40 minutes in each daily session for about a month. Many patients say it’s the best 40 minutes of their day.

I’d like to wish Marianne good luck. Please feel free to call me at the office at 561-842-9950 if you have any questions. 

To everyone else: If you can avoid ever having to take benzos, I strongly suggest that you do. If you’re currently taking them, give some serious thought to finding an alternative medication. I can help with that. For more information and stories about benzos, other drugs, and the process of medical detox, check out my book Tales from the Couch on Amazon.com.

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