White-collar workers heavy benzos users

White-collar workers and welfare recipients are the heaviest users of benzodiazepines — used to treat anxiety and insomnia.

Fiona Weldon, clinical director at the Rutland Centre, the country’s largest private centre for treatment of addiction, said she was “not remotely surprised” to see senior managers, top civil servants, and other highly ranked professionals when it came to sedatives or tranquillisers use.

“Obviously, the recession has created a lot more stress for professionals, linked to performance and financial demands or the pressures of keeping a business afloat,” said Dr Weldon. “It’s very competitive out there and the reflection of that is a lot of stress in people’s lives, more anxiety, more depression, more people going to GPs for prescriptions.

“We’ve definitely seen a massive rise in the number of people presenting for treatment of addiction to prescribed medicines. It’s gone from about 1%-3% of our client base three or four years ago to 6% or 7% now.”

She said the problem with benzos was that they are quite addictive and people can get into a cycle where they start self-medicating and abusing the drugs.

Best practice was for people in need of treatment to be offered a combination of both “talking therapy and pharma therapy”, said Dr Weldon.

The report by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs found the use of antidepressants was most widespread among the long- term unemployed or those who had never worked.

It also found that:

* Those in local authority or social housing had the highest prevalence rates for benzos and antidepressants, but the group next most likely to use benzos were property owners;

* Use of antidepressants is highest among those who left education at 15 years or younger;

* Women were more likely to report taking benzos than men last year, although prevalence rates have increased for both genders since the last study was done in 2007;

* Women were more likely to report taking antidepressants than men;

* Older adults (35-64) use benzos and antidepressants more than younger groups.

Overall, the study found the average age at which people start taking both benzos and antidepressants is 30 and that the majority got them on prescription. It also found a 2% rise in the adult population using these.

Minister for Primary Care and Drugs, Alex White, said that while appropriate use of the drugs played an important role in the wellbeing of many, he was “concerned about the health risks associated with their inappropriate or long-term use and their more widespread availability”.

Mr White said the survey findings would inform the review of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations “with a view to imposing additional controls on benzodiazepine and z-drugs [non-benzodiazepine drugs used to treat insomnia]”.