Death Grip: A Climber's Escape from Benzo Madness
By Matt Samet
4.5/5
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About this ebook
Death Grip chronicles a top climber's near-fatal struggle with anxiety and depression, and his nightmarish journey through the dangerous world of prescription drugs.
Matt Samet lived to climb, and craved the challenge, risk, and exhilaration of conquering sheer rock faces around the United States and internationally. But Samet's depression, compounded by the extreme diet and fitness practices of climbers, led him to seek professional help. He entered the murky, inescapable world of psychiatric medicine, where he developed a dangerous addiction to prescribed medications—primarily "benzos," or benzodiazepines—that landed him in institutions and nearly killed him.
With dramatic storytelling, persuasive research data, and searing honesty, Matt Samet reveals the hidden epidemic of benzo addiction, which some have suggested can be harder to quit than heroin. Millions of adults and teenagers are prescribed these drugs, but few understand how addictive they are—and how dangerous long-term usage can be, even when prescribed by doctors.
After a difficult struggle with addiction, Samet slowly makes his way to a life in recovery through perseverance and a deep love of rock climbing. Conveying both the exhilaration of climbing in the wilderness and the utter madness of addiction, Death Grip is a powerful and revelatory memoir.
Matt Samet
MATT SAMET is an accomplished longtime rock climber and former editor in chief of Climbing magazine. He is the author of Climbing Dictionary and bestselling author of Death Grip. Samet lives with his wife and their son in Colorado.
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Reviews for Death Grip
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As a pharmacist, I know how bad this class of drugs can be. But I had no idea that withdrawal can be so devastating! I was put on klonopin after I was in drug rehab (ironically for prescription drug abuse) by the doctor who ran the rehab (not unheard of). So glad I wasn’t on it very long! A truly sobering book, pun very much intended!