World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day is observed on July 11 every year. This day is to raise awareness and educate the public about the dangers of long-term use of benzodiazepines. Frequently prescribed for mental health conditions like anxiety, insomnia, and seizures, benzodiazepines are psychoactive drugs. While they may seem harmless, they are easy to overdose on when used with other medication or alcohol. The primary concern with benzodiazepines is the severe physical dependency cultivated due to prolonged prescriptions, and this is what the World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day seeks to address.

HISTORY OF WORLD BENZODIAZEPINE AWARENESS DAY

World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day is on July 11 across the world. This annual observance serves to give awareness and educate the general public about the dangers of benzodiazepines when used over long periods.

On their own, when prescribed for a short term, benzodiazepines can improve symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, and seizures. However, when these drugs are used for longer than two to four weeks or with other medication or alcohol, they can have detrimental effects, including overdose.

Long-term usage of benzodiazepines can affect individuals with anxiety and agitation, making their symptoms worse over time rather than improving them. Using these drugs for longer than four weeks can also worsen feelings of suicide ideation and depression in individuals already experiencing these mental health issues.

Benzodiazepine drugs long-term result in dependency, even when used at low dosages. Ordinary, everyday people become unknowingly dependent on benzodiazepines after long-term prescriptions. The World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day or W-BAD was initiated by activists who survived benzodiazepine injury and wanted to bring awareness to the dangers of this drug and the growing problem of people developing a dependence on the drug unknowingly.

The day also encourages medical practitioners to follow basic principles when prescribing benzodiazepines to ensure patients know the side effects and dangers of long-term use. These principles encourage doctors to support patients who are long-term users of the drug to prevent injury and wean them off the benzodiazepines onto safer medication.