Topic Title: Does anti anxiety med change personality
| |  "Does anti anxiety med change personality"
, Wed 15 Feb 08:57
Hi - I have a question that doesn't involve St. Johns Wort, but I didn't know where else to get advice. My two sister have been on Clonazapam and ativan for at least 10 years. They live in the same town and I live at least 600 miles away so we don't see one another very often. They seem like they have become selfish and cold hearted. Does anyone know if the medication would make them like this or maybe their personality has just changed with age. They are both in their 40's. Thank you - Lenore
Lenore
Posts: 15 | | Registered: Tue 12 Oct 2004 18:31 |
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| | "Re(1):Does anti anxiety med change personalit" , Tue 4 Apr 15:35
The short answer is yes it can, but that doesn't mean it will or that it will be in a bad way. I've heard stories about long-time antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication users becoming zombie hippie marshmellows, but those same people used to be frayed, half-crazy and miserable. So while it definately changed them, it did so for the better, even if they weren't perfect.
Drugs sometimes hijack a person in extreme cases, but to my knowledge such cases are temporary and are filed under "early side effects." If they're severe enough to cause problems, that's usually justification for restricting distribution of the drug or relegating it to third-line treatment status. However, what we think and do depends in large part on what we're feeling and what is going on in our brain, so even benign psychoactive medications can influence how you behave and, given long enough, that will integrate itself into your personality. In many cases that's the idea; if you're paralyzed with depression or anxiety, the medication can reduce the forces that are causing that behavior.
As for whether it can cause permanent changes over the long term: Our personalities are the result of how we interpret our experiences, and that is affected by psychoactive medications. So yes. However, it is an influence, not the sole determining factor. Your sisters may have become cold due to the medication or in spite of it.
I don't know anything about Clonazapam or Ativan so I can't say whether they would be prone towards that effect, but a quick glance at Wikipedia does indicate that Ativan is contraindicated for long-term use. Addictive substances do have a tendency to make things worse.
Posts: 3 | | Registered: Tue 4 Apr 2006 12:6 |
| | "Re(1):Does anti anxiety med change personalit" , Sat 18 Feb 06:56
Lenore,
Those drugs fall into the category of "benzos". They can be helpful but they can also be highly addictive and I believe that anything that is addictive has the possiblity to affect personality.
Best of Luck,
AOD
Posts: 0 | | Registered: Sat 18 Feb 2006 6:48 |
| | "Re(1):Does anti anxiety med change personalit" , Wed 15 Feb 17:06
Not from my experience. I have taken anti-anxiety medications in the past on an "as needed" basis -- not a steady dose. I found they made me feel calm and helped, to some extent, with insomnia. No personality change.
Posts: 86 | | Registered: Sat 7 May 2005 17:9 |
| | | "Re(2):Does anti anxiety med change personalit" , Thu 23 Feb 13:29
I have severe Social anxiety and shyness. I've been taking Clarocet since Feb 20th. I am feeling huge difference. I feel less anxious and shyness when around people. I started talking to people with confidence.
Please try this product. Earlier I was taking Perika SJW. It didn't help me much.
Posts: 14 | | Registered: Thu 16 Feb 2006 13:45 |
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