Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis
In severe cases, the withdrawal reaction or protracted withdrawal may exacerbate or resemble serious psychiatric and medical conditions, such as mania, schizophrenia, agitated depression, panic disorder generalised anxiety disorder, and complex partial seizures and, especially at high doses, seizure disorders. Failure to recognize discontinuation symptoms can lead to false evidence for the need to take benzodiazepines, which in turn leads to withdrawal failure and reinstatement of benzodiazepines, often to higher doses. Pre-existing disorder or other causes typically do not improve, where as symptoms of protracted withdrawal gradually improve over the ensuing months. For this reason at least six months should have elapsed after benzodiazepines cessation before re-evaluating the symptoms and updating a diagnosis.
Symptoms may lack a psychological cause and can fluctuate in intensity with periods of good and bad days until eventual recovery.
Read more about this topic: Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Syndrome
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