No comments? Hmm ... me thinks there is some ageism here. Maybe most of your subscribers are too young for this nostalgia, but I think the parallels you drew are spot on. I do remember when every third person seemed to be carrying a copy of this book and talking about the movie. Your piece made me realize the how destructive fame can be, not just to people, but to the inanimati (inanimate objects elevated to notoriety) as well. Valium got the bad rap from the Stones, drawing the attention and ire of the drug police.
Valium or diazepam quickly had gained immense popularity with doctors and patients. Between 1969 and 1982, Valium was the most prescribed drug in the US, and sales peaked in 1978 with more than 2.3 billion pills sold that year. But the haters won out.
Initially, there was a lot of enthusiasm in the medical field for replacing barbiturates with diazepam. Unlike the older drugs, diazepam is a more effective anxiolytic, it is much less likely to result in lethal overdose, and it is said to have a lower potential for abuse and dependence.
During the 1980s and 1990s, however, the use of diazepam and other BZDs became more controversial. Though many psychiatrists continued to view these drugs as valuable tools for treating anxiety disorders, concerns about overprescribing benzodiazepines, as well as their potential for abuse and dependence, mounted and have led to a decline in the popularity of diazepam. So one of the safest drugs in it’s class - te best muscle relaxant ever compounded and the most effective anti-seizure drug became a pariah, at least in America,
Because of its status as the most famous Benzodiazepine —“Mother’s Little Helper”—as the Rolling Stones called it in their 1966 hit song—many people had heard of Valium and viewed it as a dangerous, overprescribed, habit-forming drug. Fame is a fatal flame.
No comments? Hmm ... me thinks there is some ageism here. Maybe most of your subscribers are too young for this nostalgia, but I think the parallels you drew are spot on. I do remember when every third person seemed to be carrying a copy of this book and talking about the movie. Your piece made me realize the how destructive fame can be, not just to people, but to the inanimati (inanimate objects elevated to notoriety) as well. Valium got the bad rap from the Stones, drawing the attention and ire of the drug police.
Valium or diazepam quickly had gained immense popularity with doctors and patients. Between 1969 and 1982, Valium was the most prescribed drug in the US, and sales peaked in 1978 with more than 2.3 billion pills sold that year. But the haters won out.
Initially, there was a lot of enthusiasm in the medical field for replacing barbiturates with diazepam. Unlike the older drugs, diazepam is a more effective anxiolytic, it is much less likely to result in lethal overdose, and it is said to have a lower potential for abuse and dependence.
During the 1980s and 1990s, however, the use of diazepam and other BZDs became more controversial. Though many psychiatrists continued to view these drugs as valuable tools for treating anxiety disorders, concerns about overprescribing benzodiazepines, as well as their potential for abuse and dependence, mounted and have led to a decline in the popularity of diazepam. So one of the safest drugs in it’s class - te best muscle relaxant ever compounded and the most effective anti-seizure drug became a pariah, at least in America,
Because of its status as the most famous Benzodiazepine —“Mother’s Little Helper”—as the Rolling Stones called it in their 1966 hit song—many people had heard of Valium and viewed it as a dangerous, overprescribed, habit-forming drug. Fame is a fatal flame.