Benzodiazepine use and the biopsychosocial model

Longstanding concern about possible misuse of the physician's unique prerogative to prescribe sedative drugs that control behavior has been accentuated by the increasing use of benzodiazepines since 1960. The appropriateness of their use in solving psychosocial predicaments is increasingly questioned because their availability has coincided with social movements toward personal autonomy and scientific doubts about the adequacy of a biomedical model in health care. Recent information about patients, physicians' prescribing habits, and drugs leads to an exploration of the existing alternatives. Adoption of a biopsychosocial model could result in lowered drug use with increased levels of public and professional satisfaction.