Is it possible to predict individual stress resistance by evaluating low dose benzodiazepine effect in modeled emotional stress]

Individual effects of the benzodiazepine tranquilizers phenazepam and gidazepam were studied in neurotic patients and in healthy volunteers tested for the operatory performance under emotiogenic conditions. It was found that manifestations of the tranquiliactivating, tranquilizing, and tranquilisedative effects depend on the individual sensitivity types of the patients and volunteers. The activating manifestations were most pronounced in hypostenic patients, while the sedative action was most significant in hyperstenic persons. The tranquilisedative effect of a single test dose of gidazepam (20 mg) allows predicting a low efficacy of the log-term therapy with benzodiazepines studied. In a group of 40 healthy volunteers, a single 20-mg dose of gidazepam increased the operatory under emotiogenic conditions performance in 19 persons and decreased the results in 12 cases. Volunteers in the first group were characterized as less stress-resistant with respect to a combination of psychological, psychophysiological, and hormonal-biochemical parameters as compared to the second group. It was concluded that the benzodiazepine test is worth of further elaborating as a means of predicting the stress resistance based on the effect of a model benzodiazepine tranquilizer under laboratory conditions.