THE EPIDEMIC OF OVERPRESCRIBING OPIOIDS AND BENZODIAZEPINES
May 11, 2021
Hosted by Dr. Patricia Halligan
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Guest Information
Episode Description
Interview with Anna Lembke, MD, author of “Drug Dealer, MD…How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked and Why It’s So Hard to Stop.” Dr. Lembke is Medical Director of Stanford Addiction Medicine Program and a longtime vocal advocate for judicious prescribing. Dr. Lembke discusses the perfect storm that created decades of overprescribing. She outlines how the lack of addiction training in psychiatry, in combination with a medical culture that pathologizes everyday anxieties and incentivizes overprescribing, has created an enormous iatrogenic problem… useless patient suffering that never had to happen. We discuss the tremendous roadblocks patients face as they desperately search for help getting off long term opioids and benzodiazepines. Dr. Lembke believes that most health care professionals need to receive addiction education, as well as education on how to prescribe and de-prescribe (opioids, benzodiazepines and antidepressants). She discusses the concept of de-prescribing clinics and her role in the 2020 documentary “Medicating Normal.” She goes on to explain the harmful effects of long term benzodiazepine prescriptions (Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan) and Z drugs (Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata). Dr. Ashton and the Ashton Manual are referenced while we talk about how to deprescribe benzodiazepines and Z drugs safely and effectively. Dr. Lembke discusses her new book, "Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence" (forthcoming August 2021), and turns to her patients in recovery to teach us how to live. She offers a resounding message of hope, explaining that it’s the stories of redemption that keep her coming back…she admires, deeply respects and honors people in recovery, calling them new age “prophets” with respect to their life wisdom and sense of balance. She states that a life in recovery is truly a great life and the journey of recovery inspires in her a sense of deep awe and joy.
RECOVERY…THE HERO’S JOURNEY
Archives Available on VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel
RECOVERY: THE HERO’S JOURNEY provides best practice information and support to people struggling with Substance Use Disorders/Process Addictions and Prescription Drug Dependence. We confront the stigma surrounding Opioid Use Disorder and Benzodiazepine Dependence, understanding that both are the direct result of an overprescribing epidemic. We discuss Buprenorphine, a first line, long term treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. We validate people struggling with Benzodiazepine Dependence (ie-Xanax/Klonopin), and offer resources and a recovery plan.
Experts explore Eating Disorders, Sex Addiction, PTSD, and the effects of today’s Cannabis on teens and young adults, offering guidance and resources to individuals struggling with these issues and their families. This podcast gracefully combines interviews with experts in the field and patient stories of recovery and redemption. The show is about connection, reclaiming personal integrity and hope.
Dr. Patricia Halligan
Dr. Patricia Halligan is an Addiction Psychiatrist, who specializes in the treatment of patients diagnosed with Substance Use Disorders, Prescription Drug Dependency and Process Addictions. She completed a residency in Psychiatry at Cornell-The New York Hospital, followed by a Fellowship in Addiction Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina in 1998. Dr. Halligan is double board certified in General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry and is a trained CSAT (Certified Sex Addiction Therapist). Believing in the healing power of connection, she trained at the Center for Group Studies in NYC and runs modern analytic group therapy for people in recovery.
Dr. Halligan has been prescribing Buprenorphine in her private practice since 2003 and continues to be a strong advocate for patients with Opioid Use Disorder throughout the Opioid Epidemic. She has spent the last two decades in the trenches of two tragic epidemics caused by the overprescribing of both Opioids and Benzodiazepines.
Aware that the lack of addiction training in medicine has largely contributed to both epidemics, she has resolved to devote some time to teaching. She creates CME accredited addiction education videos and training workshops for health care providers. Dr. Halligan decided to create this show to support people who are taking the hero’s journey into recovery and their families. You’ll hear interviews with experts surrounding best practices, and embrace the elimination of stigma.
