... as Librium and Valium are the most commonly prescribed drugs for psychological disorders and have been proved to be very effective in combating stress and anxiety. They appear to act by reducing activity of the brain neurotransmitter seretonin. Beta-blockers don't actually enter the brain but reduce activity in the pathways of the nervous system around the body. As Sympathetic arousal is a key feature of the state of stress these can be very effective against symptoms such as a raised heart rate and raised blood pressure. The important problems of drug use are: * Long-term use of beta-blockers can lead to psychological dependency. They should only be prescribed for short periods only. * All drugs have side effects and BZ's are no different, they can cause drowsiness and affect the human memory. * The drugs treat the symptoms of stress and not the causes. Most problems are psychological so drugs may prevent the patient ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now