Benzodiazepine dependency is a widespread problem.
“It is estimated that the number of people world-wide who are taking prescribed benzodiazepines is enormous. For example, in the US nearly 11 percent of a large population surveyed in 1990 reported some benzodiazepine use the previous year. About 2 per cent of the adult population of the US (around 4 million people) appear to have used prescribed benzodiazepine hypnotics or tranquillizers regularly for 5 to 10 years or more. Similar figures apply in the UK, over most of Europe and in some Asian countries. A high proportion of these long-term users must be, at least to some degree, dependent. Exactly how many are dependent is not clear; it depends to some extent on how dependence is defined. However, many studies have shown that 50-100 per cent of long-term users have difficulty in stopping benzodiazepines because of withdrawal symptoms.”[1]
Internet benzodiazepine support groups provide the opportunity for those withdrawing from benzodiazepines to come together to share their experience of withdrawal. The Yahoo Benzo Group is the biggest of the benzodiazepine internet groups and has a steady membership of about 3000. It is typical for about 20 new people to join each week and for about the same number to unsubscribe. With a membership of 3000 and quite a high turnover, the group is an excellent resource for capturing the many different types of benzodiazepine experiences.
As people leave the group some of their experience goes with them.
The introduction of the surveys is an attempted to capture the withdrawal experience, in a number of statistical formats, of people as they join the group and as they progress through the various stages of the benzo journey and as they leave.
[1] http://web4health.info/en/answers/bio-benzo-dependence.htm