While Kentucky and other states have focused largely on narcotic painkiller addiction, experts say that benzodiazepines, the class of sedatives that includes Xanax, are also widely misused or abused, often with grim consequences. This being so, they have decided to discontinue writing prescriptions for Xanax and it’s generic form alprazolam. Xanax poses a particular risk for abuse and withdrawal, doctors say, because its effects are felt almost immediately, but last only a few hours. Users often quickly want more, experts say, and as their tolerance builds, they want increasingly higher doses.

Now that they’re cutting down on disbursement of this anti-depressant, this leads me to wonder if in fact, medicating to deal with emotions has proved more hazardous than beneficial. I have always been against anti-depressants because I feel as though they more or less serve as a temporary solution rather than actually solving whatever emotional distress is being encountered. I feel that they aren’t a good solution when dealing with chemical imbalances either because those can be improved with diet and exercise.