Benzo Madness and the Tragedy of Chris Cornell's Suicide
Aight. Time to drop some knowledge and bust some myths. A few days following the report of Chris Cornell's death by suicide, a connection has already been suggested between the suicide and Chris' use of a common benzodiazepine, Lorazepam (Ativan). Specifically, it's being strongly alleged that Lorazepam, or perhaps Chris' particular prescription, or the particular dose he took in the hours leading up to his death, was the cause of his suicidal thoughts and subsequent suicide -- and that therefore the drug itself was at least mostly to blame in Chris' suicide. As a mental health professional with a specialization in addiction/substance abuse, and a college professor in addictions courses, including Psychopharmacology (i.e. the study of how psychoactive drugs impact the central nervous system, which involves in-depth examination of up-to-date information on toxicity, dependence potential, side-effects, etc.), I feel I'm in a position to say few...