Addiction by Prescription: One Woman's Triumph And Fight For Change

This is a lucid account of the harrowing and humiliating symptoms experienced by those addicted to minor tranquillisers. Joan's story will resonate with families and individuals who have become innocent victims of benzodiazepine addiction. It will inspire hope to recovering benzo-users, but also highlights the dangers of long term prescribing of pyschotropic by G.P's to treat stress, and of the inadequate clinical testing of these drugs before thier wide-scale introduction & usage.
Joan's struggle to full health offers a positive example for others to follow. Perhaps, more importantly, a salutory lesson is to be be learnt by the drug regulatory bodies and medical profession from Joan's graphic description of life as an addict. They should now take action to help those millions of benzo-users to kick their addiction and come back to life! - An essential read...

Addiction by Prescription is a superb book! Written with excellent style, and captivating the reader to continue on. Reccommend to anyone taking benzodiazepines or knows anyone taking benzodiazepines. This book finaly brings to light the horrifying effects that tranquilizers and sleeping pills have on a person. Not only when your taking them, but long after you've been off of them. Joan Gadsby work, research, and passion will save a lot of lifes. She is a Hero ! Buy her book NOW !!

One womans fight for change. And change it is! This book is clearing the shelves at bookstores so quickly in Victoria, I feel lucky to have bought the second to last one at Chapters. I could not wait to get comfortable at home and start my journey. It has taken three days to complete it. And what a journey it has been! And still is. The experience, strength, and hope that myself and thousands of other sufferers of benzo addiction will have. For myself, a lifetime of alcohol abuse and prescription drug use came to an end when I entered A.A. Actually, after nine months without alcohol and getting much worse. I had to look at maybe the psyciatrists "help" with prescribing four meds.(drugs) at one time may be the problem. I started to balk at not being able to function and her answer was to"Lets throw another psyciatric highball at you and see what happens!" All this time I figured that since I was doing so badly on these things, I would probably fold completely if I stopped taking them. But something happened that made me very angry with my Doctor and I refused to return to her. After two days of being terrified I actually began to function as the drugs left my system. Then, after a few more days withdrawl from the benzos began. It was the Drug and Alcohol councellor that offered the information on what I was experiencing. NOT MY GP! Thanks

Praise for Addiction by Prescription

"It is over 20 years since I, with others, first drew attention to the extent and severity of dependence on therapeutic doses of benzodiazepines. The suffering goes on, but Joan Gadsby's well researched story should help focus public attention on this appalling problem and it's solution."
---Dr. Malcolm Lader, Professor of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Institute of Psychiatry, London, England

"...a must read for anybody who has ever taken or considered taking a prescription sleeping pill for more than 1 to 2 weeks. It is also essential reading for those of us who prescribe or dispense these pills."
--Dr. James M. Wright, Departments of Pharmacology & Therapeutics and Medicine, University of British Columbia

"This is a harrowing and brutally frank story of one woman's struggle to free herself from mind-numbing and soul destroying tranquilizing drugs....But she did triumph and has produced a powerful call to action...."
--Dr. David Cohen, Professor, School of Social Sciences, University of Montreal, and co-author of Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Drugs