The EEG in hypnosedative drug withdrawal and dependence.

Compulsive hypnosedative drug use is commonly associated with the development of tolerance and physical dependence. As most data are derived from human or animal experiments, electroclinical correlations in the clinical field are rather scarce. The informative value of the EEG features registered in 22 patients presenting minor and/or major signs of a clinical hypnosedative drug withdrawal syndrome are discussed. The electroclinical correlations are investigated and the physiopathogenesis of both clinical and EEG dysfunction are related to the neurochemical theory of dependence and withdrawal. It is suggested that the drug withdrawal syndrome represents a transient unbalanced metabolic state at the neuronal cellular level, which may be included among the causes of metabolic encephalopathies. The severity of this encephalopathy and the moment at which it occurs depend on both exogenous and personal factors.