A Sedative is a medicine that is used to cope with anxiousness and to help to sleep well. Unfortunately, this medicine can make people who used to consume it addicted physically and psychologically.

Some medicines that include sedative are benzodiazepine, barbiturate, glutetimid, chloral hydrate, and meprobamat. Each medicine works with different way and has different addiction potency and tolerance. However, today, meprobamat, glutetimid, chloral hydrate and barbiturate are seldom used. This is because benzodiazepine is safer than all of them.

Most people who are addicted to sedative usually start to use this kind of medicine to cope with their health problems. Indeed, doctor sometimes gives prescription to his patients to use it with high dose for long term to cope with their hard problems.

Unfortunately, it can cause addiction because the patients sometimes use it more than dose that should be consumed. In this case, the addiction can stand for two weeks after the continuous use.

Addicted to sedative can decrease their awareness, so they speak unclearly because their coordination is bad. Moreover, they will get confusion and their respiration becomes weak. Also, it can cause them to get depression and stress.

Some addicts even get amnesia because of this medicine. They cannot concentrate well and they have unbalanced emotion. The older addicts become senile and get difficulty to think and understand other people. If they fall, they can get fracture, especially in pelvis.

If they can sleep after consuming this medicine, it leans to reduce the amount of REM (rapid eye movement) sleeping, that is a sleeping stadium in which they can dream. This dream disorder can make them get bad temper in the following day.

Indeed, sleeping pattern can disturb addicts who stop consuming this medicine after experiencing addiction and tolerance. They have more REM sleeping, more dreams, and often wake up. This back reaction is different to different people. However, people who use the bigger dose for the longer period after stop consuming this medicine generally experience harder back reaction.

Even, if they stop consuming it suddenly, they can get horrible reaction and it can be severe. They can experience the more serious reaction if they stop consuming barbiturate and glutetimid. That is why, for convalescence, they are suggested to be nursed in hospital.

For treatment, in the first 12 -20 hours, they can be weak and panicky and their hand and feet can be trembled. In the second day, this becomes harder and they become weaker. In the second and third day, most addicts who drank this medicine with 8 time doses or bigger than standard prescription will tremble and this can be severe in the case of barbiturate and glutetimid.

Indeed, the addicts can tremble after stop consuming sedative for 1-3 weeks. The other effects that they can experience are dehydration, delirium, sleeping disorder, confusion, and hallucination. Even, with the best treatment, they will not be normal yet for a month or more.