Regardless of dose, physical dependency develops in an extremely short period of time and a taper is the safest approach. That you would not approach as such is frankly not very helpful and is grossly misinformed, IMO, as someone tapering off .5mg after nearly 10 yrs use. And yes, tapering is absolutely necessary for me. Please think carefully before how you would approach stopping a benzodiazepine, especially given not guided at all by the literature addressing this matter.