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There exists an underground club; its registry is filled with many thousands of members worldwide, consisting of people from all walks of life, people who never hoped to join. Its meetings mostly occur in select corners of the interweb, although some do assemble in person from time to time. Requirements for initiation? Enduring or having endured one of the longest, most misunderstood, unbearable, and invisible iatrogenic illnesses: benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. No secret handshake is needed. No classified documents exist. In fact, the members want you to know about their club. They openly welcome friends, family members, caretakers, medical professionals, and even curious onlookers with the hope that their invisible malady will be understood and that progress towards solving this 60-year-old medical disaster will happen.

Yes, that’s right, for a span of almost six decades now, benzodiazepines taken exactly as prescribed have been causing injury and illness in unsuspecting patients who were given a prescription for a benzodiazepine without any warning of its dangers. Long-term benzodiazepine prescription, in affected people, can cause changes, or neuroadaptations, to the GABA-A receptors in the brain and nervous system which can't be seen just by looking at someone. Enduring the daily symptoms is an enormous challenge——these people are often isolated, bedbound, and unable to work or socialize——but it is the misunderstanding, the invalidation, the misdiagnosis, the outright denial, and the lack of resources and available medical care that makes the sufferers feel truly invisible. There have been victims campaigning mightily for as long as benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome has existed. However, in the past few years, three grassroots initiatives have formed to shine light on iatrogenic benzodiazepine illness and offer hope to its long-suffering victims. They are: World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day (W-BAD), Benzodiazepine Information Coalition (BIC), and the documentary-in-progress “As Prescribed”. For this special edition 2018 T-shirt campaign, all three initiatives are banding together in unity with the benzodiazepine-injured community to send the message that, together we are VISIBLE.

We hope these shirts serve as conversation-starters; that when you wear them people will inquire as to why you are “invisible” and what the logos represent. We strongly believe that, in order for the change that is so desperately needed to happen, this problem must first be made VISIBLE. We have made significant progress, but there is still much work to be done. Exposure, visibility, and seeing benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome recognized by the mainstream will only happen if its victims come out of the shadows to tell their stories, to dissolve the misplaced stigma, and to unify in numbers. The three logos on the shirt under the word ‘VISIBLE’ will bring additional awareness, prompting people to visit BIC, W-BAD, and the “As Prescribed” websites to learn more and become informed.

Lastly, many people have requested T-shirts that will arrive in time for July 11th, 2018——the third annual World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day. We invite you to wear your shirt on July 11th. Make yourself #VISIBLE while campaigning publicly for awareness. And, of course, keep the campaign going whenever and wherever you can after that day. This specific design, representing the benzodiazepine community and all three initiatives, will be sold only once.  When the campaign closes, the shirt will no longer be available. So, get yours now! All proceeds from the sale of the shirts will go towards funding post-production costs for the “As Prescribed” documentary. In fact, this T-shirt campaign is meant to serve as a “pre-sale“ to the “As Prescribed” post-production Kickstarter which is set to launch in early July. So, be on the lookout. When it launches, be sure to share it around with your family, friends, and social networks! We are very close to having a powerful documentary that will reach beyond the benzodiazepine community into the world!

Thank you for your support. Thank you for your activism. Thank you for being a part of making iatrogenic benzodiazepine illness and injury VISIBLE. We will SEE you on July 11th, 2018 for the third annual World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day!

To visit W-BAD, BIC or "As Prescribed" online:

w-bad.org; @WorldBenzoDay (Twitter/FB); #WORLDBENZODAY

benzoinfo.com; @BZInfoCoalition (Twitter); @benzoinfo {FB)

asprescribedfilm.com; @asprescribedfilm (FB)