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Evil necessity? The meaning of benzodiazepine use for women patients from one general practice

1982; Wiley; Volume: 4; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/1467-9566.ep11339945

1467-9566

Jonathan Gabe, Susan Lipshitz‐Phillips,

Schizophrenia research and treatment

Sociology of Health & IllnessVolume 4, Issue 2 p. 201-209 Free Access Evil necessity? The meaning of benzodiazepine use for women patients from one general practice Jonathan Gabe, Jonathan Gabe Social Research Unit, Bedford College, LondonSearch for more papers by this authorSusan Lipshitz-Phillips, Susan Lipshitz-Phillips Social Research Unit, Bedford College, LondonSearch for more papers by this author Jonathan Gabe, Jonathan Gabe Social Research Unit, Bedford College, LondonSearch for more papers by this authorSusan Lipshitz-Phillips, Susan Lipshitz-Phillips Social Research Unit, Bedford College, LondonSearch for more papers by this author First published: July 1982 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.ep11339945Citations: 28 1 See e.g. J. Ery, 'Prescribing and prescriptions'. Update (September 1978), pp. 713–16; P. Williams, 'Recent trends in the prescribing of psychotropic drugs,'Health Trends, vol. 12, no. 1 (February 1980), pp. 6–7. 2 Committee on the Review of Medicines, 'Systematic review of the benzodiazepines,'British Medical Journal, vol. 280, no. 6218 (March 1980), pp. 910–12; M. Layder, 'Psychotropic drug dependency'. Paper for the Conference on the use and misuse of psychotropic substances. Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1980. 3 See e.g. M. Baiter, J. Levine and D. Manheimer, 'Cross-national study of the extent of anti-anxiety/sedative drug use'. New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 290, no. 14 (April 1974), pp. 769–74; K. Dunnell and A. Cartwright, Medidne Takers, Prescribers and Hoarders, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972. 4 See e.g. R. M. Anderson, 'The use of repeatedly prescribed medicines,'of the Royal College of General Practitioners, vol. 30 (October 1980), pp. 609–13 K. Dunnell and A. Cartwright, op. cit., 1972. 5 C. Helman, 'Patients' perceptions of psychotropic drugs'. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, vol. 3 1 (February 1981), pp. 107–12. 6 C Helman, 'Tonic, fuel and food: social and symbolic aspects of the long term use of psychotropic drugs'. Social Science and Medicine, vol. 15B, no. 4 (October 1981), pp. 521–33. 7 R. Cooperstock and H. L. Lennard, 'Some social meanings of tranquilliser use,'Sociology of Health and Illness, vol. 1, no. 3 (December 1979), pp. 331–47. 8 Similar questions are also being asked of a group of West Indian women as part of a separate research project being undertaken by N. Daubney. 9 M. Baiter et al., op. cit.: P. Parish, 'The prescribing of psychotropic drugs in general practice,'Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Supplement no. 4, vol. 21 (November 1971), pp. 1–77; D. Skegg, R. Doll and J. Perry, 'The use of medicines in general practice,'British Medical Journal, vol. 1 (June 1977), pp. 1561–3. 10 The need for such a comparison has been recognised by Irving Zola in 'Reflecting on directions in psychotropic drug research", in R. Cooperstock (ed.). Social Aspects of the Medical Use of Psychotropic Drugs, Ontario, Addiction Research Foundation, 1974, pp. 167–72. 11 The value of studying the links between people's broad structural position, life experiences, health beliefs and health-related behaviour, and health outcomes has recently been noted by Raymond Illsley in Professional or Public Health, London, Nuffield Provincial Hospital Trust, 1980, ch. 2. 12 User has been placed in inverted commas because it is realised that there is no necessary relationship between receiving a prescription and using the drug prescribed. 13 The only research evidence supporting our findings comes from a nationwide survey about psychotherapeutic drug use which was undertaken in the United States in 1970–1. See D. Manheimer, S. Davidson, M. Baiter, G. Mellinger, I. Cisin, and H. Parry, 'Popular attitudes and beliefs about tranquilizers,'American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 130, no. 11 (November 1973), pp. 1246–53. 14 Eor a discussion of patients as moral actors see R. Dingwall, Aspects of Illness, London, Martin Robertson, 1976, ch. 4; C Herzlich, Health and Illness: A Social Psychological Analysis. London, Academic Press, 1973; and R. Illsley, op. cit. ch. 3. 15 Eor a discussion of the moral nature of doctors' work see E. Ereidson, Profession of Medicine, New York, Dodd, Mead, 1970; E. Cassell, 'Preliminary explorations of thinking in medicine'. Ethics in Science and Medicine, vol. 2, no. 1 (1975), pp. 1–12; and 1. K. Zola, 'In the name of health and illness: on some socio-political consequences of medical influence'. Social Science and Medicine, vol. 9, no. 2 (February 1975), pp. 83–7. 16 The way in which local friendship and family networks influence people's attitudes towards drugs has also been commented on by Gerry Stimson and Barbara Webb. See e.g. G. Stimson, 'Obeying doctor's orders: a view from the other side'. Social Science and Medicine, vol. 8, no. 2 (February 1974), pp. 97–104;G. Stimson, 'Doctor-patient interaction and some problems for prescribing,'Journal Royal College of General Practitioners, Supplement no. 1, vol. 26 (December 1976), pp. 88–96 and G. Stimson and B. Webb, Going to See the Doctor, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975. 17 See e.g. 'The dangers of tranquillity,'Observer, 24 February 1980; 'Hooked on the happy pill'. Daily Mirror, 18 March 1980; 'Are you a pill popper who just can't quit?'Daily Mirror, 7 May 1981; 'Why the happy pills have had their day'. Standard (London), 16 October 1981. Interestingly the media's popularization of mental health information is also said to have played an important part in encouraging greafer use of psychotropic drugs in the 1960s and early 1970s. See e.g. R. Cooperstock, 'Some factors involved in the increased prescribing of psychotropic drugs,' in R. Cooperstock (ed.), 1974, op. cit. pp. 21–34. 18 See e.g. S. Hall, C Critcher, T. Jefferson, J. Clarke and B. Roberts, Policing the Crisis, London, Macmillan Press, 1978, and S. Hall, 'Reformism and the legislation of consent' in National Deviancy Conference (eds). Permissiveness and Control: the Fate of the Sixties Legislation, London, Macmillan Press, 1980, pp. 1–43. 19 G. Stimson, 1974, op. cit. 20 P. Parish, 1971, op. cit. 21 See e.g. A. Caitwright, Patients and Their Doctors, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967; A. Cartwright and R. Anderson, General Practice Revisited, London, Tavistock, 1981; and G. Stimson and B. Webb, 1975, op. cit. 22 Cooperstock and Lennard, 1979, op. cit., p. 343. 23 Eor a discussion of the view that the menopause is not a time of dramatic identity change see e.g. B. Neugarten et al., 'Women's attitudes towards the menopause'. Vita Humana, vol. 6 (1963), pp. 140–51; S. M. McKinlay and M. Jefferys, 'The menopausal syndrome,'British Journal of Preventative and Social Medicine, vol. 28, no. 2 (1974), pp. 108–15. These authors note that all the symptoms of the 'menopause,' except hot flushes, occur in women of all ages. 24 Eor the view that menopausal women's self-image is still affected by pervasive, negative cultural stereotypes see e.g. R. Reitz, Menopause: A Positive Approach, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1979; E. Eairhurst and R. Lightup, 'Being menopausal: women and medical treatment'. Paper to the Annual Conference of the Medical Sociology Group of the BSA, Warwick, 1980. 25 A similar view has been expressed by R. G. A. Williams with reference to the problems of developing a biographical approach to the theme of old age. See R. G. A. Williams, 'Logical analysis as a qualitative method I: themes in old age and chronic illness'. Sociology of Health and Illness, vol. 3, no. 2 (July 1981), pp. 140–64. 26 For a discussion of family life and childhood psychosomatic illness relating to self-image, see M. Sperling, Psychosomatic Disorders in Childhood, London, Jason Aronson, 1978. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume4, Issue2July 1982Pages 201-209 RelatedInformation