Date: Fri Apr 26, 2002 10:49 am

Subject: Age and benzo withdrawal

XXXXXX and all,

(Not posting as a moderator here, these are my personal opinions, just so everyone knows, nor would I WISH to set a standard for such a personal decision.) First of all, who drew the line at 50? Is that some major milestone in determining youth? I'm 45,,,shoot, almost there! I'll be &#&@&@&@& if I''ll let someone take away my "golden years" benzo free! Seriously, it's not a question that can readily be answered, each and every individual has to decide how they view their quality of life and whether or not they are willing to undergo the withdrawal processes it takes to become benzo free. It is also such a difficult question because there are many factors to consider, but you can't define who is too old. It depends on so many factors such as a persons basic health history, their mental capacity, their support system, and frankly their motiviation. And what they must consider when comtemplating getting off of benzos is their emotional quality of life first and foremost, before they even consider the physical affects of being on or getting off benzos.

The drugs can numb us so that we no longer CARE about the most fundemental of human needs- to love and to be loved, to feel and live compassionately. Benzos dull all these basic human feelings, regardless of whether or not you have other physical symptoms. Most individuals that start to taper off comment on how they can FEEL again and they begin to get some insight into what the drugs have been doing to them. They laugh again, they cry, they feel more human. But there are obviously some that are not strong enough mentally or physically to go through withdrawal.

When in the last stages of terminal cancer some individuals opt for heavy duty pain relievers to help with the pain, while others refused to be sedated during their last few days on earth because they want to experience all that is life. Neither you nor I can decide which is right, which is acceptable, it is a decision that should be left to the individual. Just as each one of us has to determine our quality of life on benzos and whether or not the drugs should be discontinued. Now in defense of seniors, I think most readily of my own mother. At 60, she got her real estate license and worked in the business for quite some time. At 67 she remarried, the man she said that she'd waited her whole life for.

At 82, she went to the hospital to hold her first great grandchild. And last month, two weeks before her 85th birthday I took her to renew her drivers license so she could drive her shiney new car for the next 5 years if so desired! There is much life ahead for many in their 60's, 70's and 80's. We can set no bar for how old an individual should be to come off benzos. It is a personal choice.

Hugs, Shell