 |
|
An 87-Year-Old Woman Taking a Benzodiazepine
Discussant Carl Salzman, MD
JAMA. 1999;281:1121-1125.
|
|
| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings. |
|
|
|
INTRODUCTION
DR PARKER: Ms B is an 87-year-old woman who has taken benzodiazepines for at least 15 years. Her physician is trying to weigh the risks and benefits of continuing her therapy with alprazolam or attempting to taper it off. Ms B lives alone and independently near Boston, Mass, and has her health insurance through Medicare.
Ms B describes anxiety symptoms occurring since at least young adulthood. She speaks of "worry about illness in family members," generalized uncomfortable anxiety, "low mood" without clear depressive symptoms, and a "hard life" with few breaks. Her affect is flat, her mood sad, and her thoughts pessimistic. "I've never had joy in my life—just tried to get through day by day." She has always been single. She attributed her inability to succeed in relationships with men to her hysterectomy, which made her unable to bear children. She derives pleasure from playing . . . [Full Text of this Article]
MS B: HER UNDERSTANDING AND PERCEPTIONS
DR A: HIS UNDERSTANDING AND PERCEPTIONS
AT THE CROSSROADS: QUESTIONS TO DR SALZMAN
Clinical Pharmacology of Benzodiazepines Adverse Effects and the Development of Dependence Special Problems in the Elderly Appropriate Therapeutic Use of Benzodiazepines
QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
Author Affiliation: Dr Salzman is Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and Director of Education and Director of Psychopharmacology, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, Mass.
RELATED ARTICLE
March 24/31, 1999
JAMA. 1999;281(12):1143-1144.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
The Exclusion of Benzodiazepine Coverage in Medicare: Simple Steps for Avoiding a Public Health Crisis
Bambauer et al.
Psychiatr. Serv. 2005;56:1143-1146.
FULL TEXT
An 87-Year-Old Woman Taking a Benzodiazepine, 1 Year Later
Parker and Hartman
JAMA 1999;282:1960-1960.
FULL TEXT
|
