Andy,
You are not addicted. Your body/CNS is dependent on a horrendous benzodiazepine. None should be prescribed for more than 3-4 days, but that’s a moot point for most of us. You are not stuck on them. You had a horrific ordeal at the hospital because doctors know very little about these drugs beyond 3 months of use. It’s despicable, but they weren’t taught and are very slow to admit they need to change.

I urge you to go to https://www.benzoinfo.com/
You will find information on safe, slow discontinuation tapers under Resources. You might be lucky and NOT develop tolerance (the meds stop working and throw you into withdrawal anyway), but most do. If you’re not in tolerance, you could start a very, very slow taper off. Read the Ashton Manual. It’s the gold standard, but there are a ton of others who have either gone through what you did, which was unforgivable, or abruptly cut off. Most hit tolerance after years of the drug working and decide to taper. You can do it the wrong way (super fast) or the safe way (low and slow) or just continue to feel like crap. It does get better when you finally get off, but it’s a marathon. Plus, if you’re taking a generic, some have been discontinued and new brands are causing issues.

I’d suggest reading Ashton first and making sure you are prepared on all fronts if you want to get this poison out of your body. I’m 66 and am doing a slow taper from 35 years of 1mg clonopin. The longer on and the older we are, the slower we should go.

I wish you the best, but don’t think you have to be on this s**t for life. There are plenty of coping skills for GAD. I know and I know they really help MORE than a pill.

Also, stay off any FB groups. There’s a lot of good info, but too much negativity AND IT’S FROM THE YOUNGER PEOPLE! Go figure. They have it much easier and they can’t even cope with one anxiety attack. Wisdom has its advantages.