The Benzodiazepines An International Perspective

Marks, John

doi:10.1080/02791072.1983.10472135

Cited by 22 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In 1979 almost 31 million benzodiazepine prescriptions were dispensed compared with 26 million in 1985-a 16% decline in 6 years. A similar pattern has also been found in other industrialized countries (Marks, 1983). According to Williams (1987) a prime factor in this decrease has been the reduction in new prescribing, rather than the wholesale discontinuation of treatment by long-term consumers.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Towards a sociology of tranquillizer prescribing

Gabe

1990

British Journal of Addiction

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This paper outlines a sociological approach to benzodiazepine tranquillizer prescribing. The analysis focuses on both the micro level of the doctor-patient relationship and the macro level of those political, economic and cultural factors which structure the prescribing process. This makes it possible to account for both the overall decline in benzodiazepine prescriptions in the 1980's and the fact that they are still being prescribed on a long-term basis to a significant number of people.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Towards a sociology of tranquillizer prescribing

Gabe

1990

British Journal of Addiction

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“…They rapidly became the most widely prescribed psy-chotropic medication in the world (Marks 1983). Their high therapeutic efficacy, apparently few side-efTects and relative safety, enabled them to eclipse barbiturates which were thought to be less effective and more dangerous when taken in overdose.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may be explicable in part by the fact that benzodiazepine users are a changing and far from homogenous group. It is estimated that only 20-25% of benzodiazepine users continue to take the medication for over six months (Marks 1983;Baiter et al 1984), and thus it is those on long-term regimes who are likely to constitute the bulk of the user community. The purpose of the current study is to explore how respondents interpret and come to accommodate their continued use of benzodiazepines, despite heightened public concem.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patient responses to benzodiazepine medication: a typology of adaptive repertoires developed by long‐term users

North

Davis

Powell

1995

Sociology Health & Illness

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Since the late 1970s there has been a marked decline in the prescribing of the benzodiazepines. Yet long-term use of this drug persists despite widespread media condemnation and growing professional concem. The study seeks to illuminate this phenomenon by deploying qualitative methods to investigate the meaning that such medication has for the users themselves and their styles of management. In-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen community-based users and seven members of a self-help group. From this material a typology was developed that reflected the relationship users had formed with their medication. The key dimensions in this typology were the degree of dependency on the drug, the perceived level of risk associated with it, and underlying attitude. The relationships to the drug refiected in the typology were suggestive of a pattern of self-regulation and active management by users, rather than dominance and control by practitioners. Furthermore, the investigation indicated that characteristics of the medication regime itself-such as type of drug and doseexert an infiuence on the attribution of meaning and the place of the drug in users' lives. While a characterisation of patient subculture has real potential for application in clinical practice, there are also implications within medical sociology for theories of medicalisation and social control-

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“…In 1979, for instance, almost 31 million benzodiazepine containing prescriptions were dispensed (Taylor, 1987). After this peak tranquilliser prescriptions started to decline (Taylor, 1987), as has also occurred in other industrialised countries (Marks, 1983a). Even so, prescriptions for these drugs still represent a significant proportion of all the drugs prescribed in Britain; and despite the impact of the limited list', their total cost to the National Health Service 1985 was around 40 million pounds.…”

Section: ) the Emergence Of A Social Problemmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Between 1965 and 1970 prescriptions for benzodiazepine tranquillisers rose by 110% compared with a 19% increase for all psychotropic drugs (Parish, 1971). In 1965 under five million prescriptions for the three main benzodiazepines (Librium, Valium and Mogadon) were dispensed in retail pharmacies in England and Wales; by 1970 the number had increased to nearly llVi million (Parish, 1971), During the seventies, prescriptions for tranquillisers like henzodiazepines continued to rise (Williams 1980a(Williams , 1980bMarks, 1983a). In 1979, for instance, almost 31 million benzodiazepine containing prescriptions were dispensed (Taylor, 1987).…”

Section: ) the Emergence Of A Social Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tranquillisers as a Social Problem

Gabe¹,

Bury²

1988

The Sociological Review

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This paper attempts to highlight the value of the ‘social problem’ perspective for the sociology of health and illness by applying it to the issue of tranquilliser use and dependence. The approach involves focusing on the emergence of benzodiazepine tranquilliser dependence as a social problem and the extent to which it has been legitimated by the media and by the state. In the conclusion we draw out the implications of our case study for the development of a ‘natural history’ of social problems.

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The Benzodiazepines An International Perspective

Cited by 22 publications

References 33 publications

Towards a sociology of tranquillizer prescribing

Towards a sociology of tranquillizer prescribing

Patient responses to benzodiazepine medication: a typology of adaptive repertoires developed by long‐term users

Tranquillisers as a Social Problem

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