The connection between anxiety medication and accidents. Anti-anxiety medication causes drowsiness and poor coordination, which contributes to accidents at home, at work, and on the road. Studies show that taking anti-anxiety medication increases your risk of having a serious traffic accident.
Beyond the common side effects, medication for anxiety comes with additional risks. While the tranquilizing anti-anxiety drugs are relatively safe when taken only occasionally and in small doses, they can lead to trouble when combined with other substances or taken over long periods of time. Furthermore, certain people have adverse reactions to them so they’re not safe for everyone, even when used responsibly.
Drug interactions and overdose
Used alone, anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax or Valium rarely cause fatal overdose, even when taken in large doses. But when combined with other central nervous system depressants, the toxic effects of these anxiety medications increase. Taking anti-anxiety medication with alcohol, prescription painkillers, or sleeping pills can be deadly. Dangerous drug interactions can also occur when anti-anxiety drugs are taken with antihistamines, which are found in many over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines. Antidepressants such as Prozac and Zoloft can also heighten their toxicity.
Other anti-anxiety drug risk factors
Anyone who takes benzodiazepines can experience unpleasant or dangerous side effects. But certain individuals are at a higher risk :
- People over 65. Older adults are more sensitive to the sedating effects of anti-anxiety medication. Even small doses can cause confusion, amnesia, loss of balance, and cognitive impairment that looks like dementia. Anti-anxiety drug use in the elderly is associated with an increased risk of falls, broken hips and legs, and car accidents.
- Pregnant women. Expectant mothers should avoid anti-anxiety drugs. Since these anxiety medications cross the placenta, their use during pregnancy can lead to dependence in the baby. Following birth, the baby will then go through withdrawal, with symptoms such as muscle weakness, irritability, sleep and breathing problems, and trembling. These anxiety drugs are excreted in breast milk, so they should be avoided while breastfeeding, too.
- People with a history of substance abuse. Anyone with a current or former problem with alcohol or drugs should avoid anti-anxiety drugs or use them only with extreme caution. The greatest benefit of benzodiazepines is that they work quickly, but this also makes them addictive. This can quickly lead to their abuse, often in dangerous combination with alcohol or other illicit drugs.
The above information thankfully comes from the helpguide.org at the following link.
