Xanax (generic name: alprazolam) is a very popular, both in medical and social circles, pill that falls into the general category of anti-depressants, its basic use being anxiolytic & hypnotic. It falls under the umbrella term for similar drugs called benzodiazepines.

Usually prescribed for:

• Anxiety disorder characterized by unrealistic fears and excessive worries.
• Panic Disorder, sometimes accompanied by fear of open spaces (agoraphobia).
• Also for the temporary symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, depression, fear of strangers, irritable bowel, and premenstrual syndrome. Dosage varies.
• To treat fibromyalgia, in low doses. Guaifenesin has also been proven, however inexplicably, to treat fibromyalgia.
• To replace one addiction, such as alcohol dependency, with a new additon to Xanax. This particular drug treatment is often employed by drug rehabilitation hospitals/hospices, usually largely due to ignorance as an addiction to Xanax is really no different than addiction to alcohol.

The most common side-effects include drowsiness, fatigue, light-headedness, or speech problems, whereas any other side-effects should be reported to the doctor immediately. When combined with alcohol it can bring about listlessness which could even end in fainting, but in most cases it will result in problems with balance (i.e., you fall down a lot) along with slight to moderate judgement impairment.

Be aware that the little violet pill called Xanax is highly addictive, and once you take it you have to undergo a three-week process of gradually reducing the dosage to hook off.

Xanax is known to have replaced Valium in the shelves of legal drug addicts worldwide, as well as rumoured to be sold in rave parties and on the drugs blackmarket as a downer.

It's usually about three or four in the morning that I start awake from sleep with a realization that I'm under attack. Millions of tiny worries are crawling over my skin, gnawing, biting, ripping flesh off my body. Most of them are totally irrational, but the shear number is too overwhelming to launch a counter-attack with cognitive analysis against one at a time.

They know my Achilles heel... they know my most fundamental fears, my deepest wishes in all the world, and they ruthlessly attack. Staggering under the attack, I get up and fish my bottle of medicine out. Just knowing that I hold my own WMD right there in my hand gives me some hope. I coax a little white pill out, visually assess how my supply is holding up, and place the pill on my tongue. I let it sit there for a moment while I carefully replace the lid so that they are safe. The pill tastes bitter as it begins to dissolve. I take a swig of water, and wait.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, I am relieved to notice the chemicals wrapping around my brain. The worries float benignly away into the fog of the periphery of thought.

If I can't feel peace, at least I can feel numb.