^Haha, dude please don't take it so seriously. We're not anti-Benzo or anything like that. I've been a Heroin addict for ten years, so to call me anti-drug would be quite a stretch. I prefaced my post with "You won't like my response..." because I felt you might take it the way you did, which is more my fault than yours. We don't look down on you, judge you or do anything like that. Sometimes how we speak comes from more of a cold, calculating and vaguely scientific place. We're not here to try to stop drug use, just to make it as safe and problem-free as possible.
So when you ask about your opinions regarding your Benzodiazepine use, I couldn't help but tell you how I honestly felt. The thing is, it doesn't really matter what your conditions are in this sense. Someone who is schizophrenic, bipolar, quadrapelegic or what have you can still become dependent upon, withdraw from and potentially die as a result of Benzodiazepine use. Well intentioned or not doesn't change the reality is my point. Also, when the medical community at-large states that Benzodiazepines shouldn't be prescribed for longer than a short course, they had already taken into account the fact that people with serious mental illness would be using them. Their belief applies to anyone who might use Benzodiazepines.
Again, it doesn't matter if you're sick or healthy, Benzodiazepine dependence can be a guaranteedly destructive and potentially life-ruining force. It doesn't matter how helpful they are in the short-term if they ultimately ruin your life in the long-term is the point. While some are able to maintain Benzodiazepine maintenance for years with no ill effect or development of malignancy, it doesn't normally work that way.
No one is trying to say you don't deserve them. Not at all. We really didn't know anything about your case at all other than that you had anxiety until you left us your second post, so that was the information we were all going on. None of us dislike you, disrespect you or remotely look down on you for what you're involved in. Nobody thinks your stupid for being in the situation and nobody thinks your being a bitch either.
Again, please take into account that there can be a coldness to the communication here. We don't like to convey that sort of feeling, as we all care about each other to a great extent here at BL, but sometimes it comes across that way. If you break the rules blatantly, insult other members or anything like that though, we probably will get upset.
