Post-acute-withdrawal syndrome

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs editing to comply with Wikipedia's Manual of Style. Please help improve the content. (December 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject. Please help improve the article by providing more context for the reader. (December 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. Please help improve it by rewriting it in a balanced fashion that contextualizes different points of view. (December 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article needs more reliable medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources. Please review the contents of the article and add the appropriate references if you can. Unsourced or poorly sourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Post-acute-withdrawal syndrome" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) is a hypothesized set of persistent impairments that occur after withdrawal from alcohol,^[1][2] opiates, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and other substances.^[3][4][5] Infants born to mothers who used substances of dependence during pregnancy may also experience a PAWS.^[6][7] While PAWS has been frequently reported by those withdrawing from opiate and alcohol dependence, the research has limitations. Protracted benzodiazepine withdrawal has been observed to occur in some individuals prescribed benzodiazepines.^[8][9]

Drug use, including alcohol and prescription drugs, can induce symptomatology which resembles mental illness. This can occur both in the intoxicated state and during the withdrawal state. In some cases these substance-induced psychiatric disorders can persist long after detoxification from amphetamine, cocaine, opioid, and alcohol use, causing prolonged psychosis, anxiety or depression. A protracted withdrawal syndrome can occur with symptoms persisting for months to years after cessation of substance use. Benzodiazepines, opioids, alcohol, and any other drug may induce prolonged withdrawal and have similar effects, with symptoms sometimes persisting for years after cessation of use. Psychosis including severe anxiety and depression are commonly induced by sustained alcohol, opioid, benzodiazepine, and other drug use which in most cases abates with prolonged abstinence. Any continued use of drugs or alcohol may increase anxiety, psychosis, and depression levels in some individuals. In almost all cases drug-induced psychiatric disorders fade away with prolonged abstinence, although permanent damage to the brain and nervous system may be caused by continued substance use.^[10]