> The gates to hell are finally opened once a benzo is prescribed ... The amount of DGAF/YOLO these drugs give the user are very understated

... let's dial this back a little here. I've been a (prescribed) benzo user for ~15 years, across xanax, valium, and klonopin. I regularly go for weeks at a time without taking them or thinking about them. I have taken some very, very large doses before (as part of a now-resolved fear of flying).

Firstly, yes, obviously, they are addictive. This is compounded by the fact that people are generally prescribed them when they really need them, and they are highly short-term effective. If you have acute mental distress and someone gives you a drug that switches that off in the short term, you are going to really want more of it when that distress comes back. Many people seem to have at least some low-level mental distress, and so many people respond really well to benzos. They also cause physical dependence, so cessation if you've taken them chronically for as little as a few weeks is going to be somewhere between annoying and extremely rough, quite aside from the addiction.

Secondly, the "amount of DGAF/YOLO". Some users experience dose-dependent impaired judgement, probably similar to alcohol? If you've taken a serious dose, you'll know you've taken something psychoactive. This isn't something that needs to factor in to your risk profile for taking 5mg of valium. A very small number (1%?) experience severe impaired judgement. Test one first.

Overall, they are a drug to approach with a lot of caution, and with the help of a doctor who you think understands the risks, like opiates. But like opiates, they are a miracle solution to a very difficult problem. If your doctor thinks you need to carry some Xanax around in your wallet for panic attacks, don't assume all hell will break loose. If your doctor wants you to take klonopin for five days while you switch SSRI, that's probably OK. If you're terrified of flying, but need to make your once-a-decade flight, gladly accept a dose of valium. On the other hand, if your doctor is prescribing a four-week once-a-day schedule, urgently seek out a second opinion unless they sit you down and are very clear on the risks with you first, and even then do some of your own research.

But be aware that they are highly effective at removing your acute mental distress, and if that's an issue for you anyway, you might be about to feel better than you've felt in years, and you need to be sure you're not going to reach for them when you don't actually need them, and kick off an addiction that will be very, very hard to shake.

Bottom line: miracle drug, but be as skeptical of them as doctor-prescribed opiates.

Thanks for the share. I really like these first hand accounts on HN.

Can you theorise on why you are not (less?) affected by the addictive elements of benzos? I'm not here to doubt, rather to ask: What are you doing differently? Are you someone with (insanely) high self-control... so you can back off if you feel the pressure of addiction?