No access

Article

Published Online: April 1994

A Clinical Profile of Patients Affected by State Regulation of Benzodiazepine Prescriptions

David J. Hellerstein, Donna M. Flansaas, Lynda D. Zweben-Howland, and Lisa W. SamstagAuthors Info & Affiliations

Publication: Psychiatric Services

Volume 45, Number 4

https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.45.4.362

Get Access

Abstract

In 1989 New York State extended regulation of controlled substances to benzodiazepines. To study the effects on patients, the authors examined characteristics of patients who came to a psychiatric outpatient clinic seeking benzodiazepines during the year after the regulation took effect.

Methods: Demographic and clinical characteristics of 44 patients who sought benzodiazepines were compared with those of 297 other patients evaluated at the clinic during the same period. Compliance with clinic treatment recommendations by patients who sought benzodiazepines was assessed at six-month follow-up.

Results: Patients seeking benzodiazepines were predominantly impoverished minority women with a diagnosis of a mood disorder or anxiety disorder. Most were not drug or alcohol abusers. After evaluation at the clinic, nearly half received prescriptions for antidepressant medications instead of benzodiazepines. Although the patients seeking benzodiazepines bad many psychosocial problems, they bad poor compliance with clinic psychotherapy interventions.

Conclusions: Regulation of benzodiazepine prescriptions appeared to significantly disrupt the treatment of some patients and to encourage them to seek treatment in a psychiatric setting. The high frequency of mood disorders among these patients suggests that some patients may have been misdiagnosed earlier as having anxiety disorder and raises questions about the appropriateness of their previous use of benzodiazepines.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Get Access

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Psychiatric Services

Volume 45 • Number 4 • April 1994

Pages: 362 - 365

History

Published in print: April 1994

Published online: 1 April 2006

Authors

Details

David J. Hellerstein

View all articles by this author

Donna M. Flansaas

View all articles by this author

Lynda D. Zweben-Howland

View all articles by this author

Lisa W. Samstag

View all articles by this author

psychiatry at Beth Israel, is a staff psychiatrist at Holyoke (Mass.) Hospital

Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City; department of psychiatry at Beth Israel Medical Center, First Avenue and 16th Street, New York, New York 10003

psychiatnc outpatient services

mood disorders research unit at Beth Israel Medical Center

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format	RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks
Direct importt
Citation style
Style

Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

View Options

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Purchase Options

Purchase this article to access the full text.

PPV Articles - Psychiatric Services

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR^® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

A Clinical Profile of Patients Affected by State Regulation of Benzodiazepine Prescriptions

Abstract

Get full access to this article