J a n u a r y 1963

pilot taking the drugs must be auto- under a variety of trade names began matically grounded. (Army regula- to pour out of the pharmaceutical tions prohibit pilots from flying for factories and into the drugstores. In four weeks after taking “any of the advertisingin reputable medical jourmood-ameliorating, tranquilizing or nals, addressed to physicians, the ataraxic drugs.”) drugs were said to be safe, non- Tranquilizers are widely avail- addictive and “well suited to proable, and there is a widespread as- longed therapy.” For example, docsumption, prevalent among laymen tors were urged to prescribe one and some physicians, that they are brand for such situations as “nervharmless pills affording easy escape ousness caused by initial encounters from the worries and tensions of in the business world; familial teneveryday life. Yet many medical au- sion produced by sickness, accidents, thorities who hail the new “psycho- weddings, funerals, separations and pharmaceuticals” as a major break- differing opinions; anxiety over pub-

What You Should Know About Tranquilizers through also warn that these are potent drugs that must be handled with care. lic appearances-common to actors, executives, ministers, teachers and politicians; excitement among athby William and Ellen Hartley* letes and officials engaged in com- From the beginning, about ten years ago, the peace-of-mind pills petitive sports.” Millions of unsuspecting Americans are endangering their have had a history both weird and In 1957, physicians wrote 36 milwonderful. The original compounds lion prescriptions enabling patients emotional a n d physical health by misusing these were discovered accidentally by sci- to gulp 1.2 billion tranquilizing pills. “peace-of – m i n d pills entists searching for entirely differ- Late in 1960 a professor at Columbia ent things-a medicine for reducing University’s College of Physicians high blood pressure, an antihista- and Surgeons estimated that “one in mine, a muscle relaxer. every seven Americans is taking tran- T HE vast array of new drugs called tranquilizers has completely revolutionized the treatment of men- But there is another aspect. Misuse of these same tranquilizing drugs has befuddled the minds and wrecked The compounds developed in this search manifested one imporquilizers as an escape from anxiety.” Yet it was soon apparent that the ‘ tal illness. Largely because of this the lives of many essentially normal, tant characteristic in common-they tranquilizers were by no means safe major medical advance, the popula- healthy people. In 1959 a Piedmont tranquilized. Promptly they became and foolproof drugs. During the tion of mental hospitals in at least Airlines DC3, 11 miles off course the “wonder drugs” of the 1950’s. four-year period 1957-61, literally . 40 states has dropped sharply. Even crashed into a mountainside near Properly used, t&y provided the hundreds of clinical reports indicated the “disturbed” wards in many men- Charlottesville, Va., killing 23 pas- psychiatrist with a .wonderful tool in that doctors were observing serious tal institutions now are compara- sengers and three crewmen. Investi- the treatment of psychotic patients. side effects in many patients. Some tively quiet places where tranquil gation disclosed that the pilot had But soon the tranquilizers were developed skin eruptions, gastro- . patients submit cooperatively to psy- been taking tranquilizers. Subse- taken up avidly by millions of Amer- intestinal upsets, disturbed vision, chiatric treatment. quently, the Federal Aviation icans who were seeking relaxation, lethargy or drowsiness. That is the bright side of the story. Agency ruled that any commercial peace of mind or, as one doctor put The first major report, “Inherent 1 it, “A Turkish bath in a tablet.” Dangers in Use of Tranquilizing “Copyright 1962 ReadersDigest Assoc. Reprint with perinission. I .- I Some 25 chemically distinct drugs Drugs in Anxiety States,” appeared

in the Journal of the American Med- such a degree that the patient be- bamate. An exaggerated feeling of But he had previously taken a couical Association in February, 1957. comes oblivious to the realities of well-being leads to oyerdosage, on ple of pills to ease tension. These Drs. H. A. Dickel and H. H. Dixon, life. He no longer has any worries, the reasoning that if one pill helps, gave the two drinks the wallop of a psychiatrists at the University of no longer plans logically, tends to three will help three times as much. tumblerful of whiskey. Oregon Medical School, studied make impulsive decisions, may man- He has seen patients under the influ- Even without alcohol the tran- 8200 “people of normal physical ifest defective reasoning and judg- ence of six or more ,tablets a day quilizers can impair coordination, makeup and at least average intel- ment, and as a result may find him- manifest all the signs of intoxication, reaction time and judgment to such lectual capacity” whose chief com- self in real difficulties.” including impaired speech and gen- an extent that the pill user becomes plaint originally had been anxiety, Dr. Orland cited the case of a 37- eral lack of coordination. “The im- a menace on the highway. Judge Of the 7500 patients whose anxiety year-old businessman harassed and plication in regard to the dangers of Charles Snowden, of the Miami, was treated with tranquilizers, 374 worried by his job. Given tranquiliz- driving a car is self-evident,” Dr. Fla., traffic court, has stated that “an developed serious physical-health ers, he relaxed and began to feel so Lemere says. increasing number of defendants in problems ranging from allergic reac- good that he took on additional re- Both reserpine and chlorproma- drunk-driving cases are claiming that tions to liver damage. In 1700 pa- sponsibilities. The tension and anx- zine are known to intensify the ef- they were under the influence of tients, emotional health deteriorated; iety recurred, so he started increas- fects of alcohol. Last year, for ex- tranquilizers rather than alcohol.” and in an additional 827 existing ing his dosage of pills. Eventually, ample, the highway patrol in a i>espite warnings, abuse of the emotional illness was aggravated. In the crackup came, after his impul- southern state overtoo! a car being tranquilizerscontinues unabated. Re- ‘ another study of 57 1 patients treated sive acts had caused him to lose his driven erratically at : high speed. tail sales are estimated in excess of with tranquilizers, 121 developed the job and his personal savings. When the driver emerged, obviously 250 million dollars annually. Pa-,. tremors characteristic of Parkinson’s The habit-forming properties of intoxicated, he was recognized as a tients ask for the pilis; doctors predisease, and many suffered depres- the drugs have been clearly estab- local justice of the peace, a man of scribe them. Patients continue to sion ranging from mild to severe. lished in thousands of reported cases. sobriety and excellent reputation. He take the pills (often increasing the In October 1959, Dr. Frank Or- Dr. Frederick Lemere, University of explained later that he had put in a dosage) long after the original need land warned in the AMA Journal: Washington psychiatrist, points out grueling 18-hour day and on his way has passed, for the refillable prescrip “Prolonged administration of tran- that some persons may. develop home had taken two drinks-hardly tion, forbidden by federal law, is still ‘quilizers may decrease tensions to a physical dependence on mepro- enough to make a husky man drunk. legal in many states. The Food &

Drug Administration can prosecute tablets sold, fewer than 3000 had only in cases where the drug has been dispensed legally. Irresponsimoved in interstate commerce. ble druggists dispense the high- In Georgia, after a woman in- priced and extremely profitable drugs formed the FDA that her daughter without prescription. Intelligent conhad “stayed drunk” for a year and a trol of the tranquilizer problem seems half on tranquilizers obtained from to devolve upon the prescribing phya local chain store on a single non- sician, the dispensing druggist and refillable prescription, the store’s the average citizen who thinks, misrecords were seized. They revealed takenly, that peace of mind is obtainthat of some 38,000 tranquilizer able in safe, simple pill form.