Benzodiazepine addiction treatment helps people address prescription medication use that has become difficult to control or harmful to their health, safety, relationships, and daily lives. Benzodiazepines have legitimate medical purposes, but regular use can also lead to tolerance, physical dependence, withdrawal, misuse, or addiction. Problems may develop when someone takes more than prescribed, uses medication without a prescription, combines it with other substances, or feels unable to function without it. Rainbow Hill Recovery provides LGBTQIA+-affirming outpatient benzodiazepine addiction treatment in Los Angeles for adults who are medically stable and need structured support for substance use, mental health, trauma, and continuing recovery.
Our program recognizes that LGBTQIA+ people may enter treatment with experiences that are directly relevant to substance use and emotional health. Rejection, discrimination, identity concealment, family conflict, harassment, social isolation, and previous negative healthcare experiences can make it harder to ask for help or trust a treatment provider. These experiences do not define every LGBTQIA+ person, and identity itself is never treated as the cause of addiction. Affirming care gives clients room to discuss these concerns when they matter without being judged, stereotyped, misgendered, or asked to minimize an important part of who they are.
Benzodiazepines are prescription medications that slow activity within the central nervous system. Healthcare professionals may prescribe them for anxiety disorders, panic disorder, insomnia, seizures, social phobia, and certain other medical concerns. Common medications include alprazolam, commonly sold as Xanax; clonazepam, known as Klonopin; diazepam, known as Valium; and lorazepam, known as Ativan. The FDA requires benzodiazepines to carry a boxed warning addressing the risks of abuse, misuse, addiction, physical dependence, and withdrawal reactions.
These medications may produce relaxation, sedation, reduced anxiety, impaired coordination, and slowed reaction time. Their effects can begin relatively quickly, which may make them useful for certain acute symptoms but can also reinforce repeated use. Someone may gradually begin to believe they cannot sleep, attend social events, travel, work, manage dysphoria, or tolerate emotional discomfort without taking a pill. Over time, benzodiazepine use can become connected to both physical adaptation and behavioral routines that are difficult to change without appropriate support.
Benzodiazepine addiction is a substance use disorder involving compulsive or uncontrolled medication use despite harmful consequences. A person may continue taking benzodiazepines after experiencing memory problems, relationship conflict, missed responsibilities, impaired driving, financial strain, worsening mental health, or repeated concerns from people they trust. Addiction is not determined by one dosage, one prescription, or the number of days someone has taken a medication. A clinical assessment considers control, cravings, consequences, tolerance, withdrawal, safety, and the role benzodiazepines have taken in the person’s life.
Prescription benzodiazepine misuse affects millions of people in the United States. According to the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 3.36 million people aged 12 or older misused prescription benzodiazepines during the previous year. This represented approximately 1.2% of the population aged 12 or older, while about 3.25 million adults reported past-year misuse. These numbers do not include every person who developed physical dependence while taking medication as prescribed, which is one reason individualized evaluation is important.
There is no single cause of benzodiazepine addiction. Risk may be influenced by genetics, family history, mental health, trauma, chronic stress, dosage, duration of use, access to medication, and the use of alcohol, opioids, or other drugs. Some people begin with a medically appropriate prescription but gradually take more because the original amount no longer provides the same relief. Others obtain medication from friends, relatives, multiple prescribers, online sellers, or an illegal supply without knowing its actual dosage or contents.
Anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, grief, and trauma symptoms can also contribute to repeated use. A person may begin taking benzodiazepines before every difficult interaction, social event, medical appointment, work shift, or attempt to sleep. The medication can become associated with safety, confidence, emotional numbness, or the ability to avoid distressing thoughts. When it becomes the primary coping response, reducing use may feel overwhelming because the underlying symptoms and triggers remain unresolved.
For some LGBTQIA+ people, benzodiazepine use may become connected to minority stress or painful life experiences. Rejection by family, discrimination at work, fear of coming out, gender dysphoria, harassment, relationship violence, housing instability, and difficulty finding affirming healthcare may increase anxiety or emotional distress. These factors do not mean that being LGBTQIA+ causes addiction, and they should never be used to stereotype a client. They do show why effective care must consider the client’s environment, relationships, safety, identity, mental health, and substance use together.
Benzodiazepine addiction may develop gradually, and early warning signs can resemble stress, depression, exhaustion, or expected medication side effects. Someone may continue meeting many responsibilities while privately worrying about running out, hiding how much they take, or visiting multiple prescribers. Friends, partners, or family members may notice changes in coordination, memory, alertness, mood, or reliability before the person recognizes the pattern. A diagnosis should come from a qualified assessment rather than one symptom or another person’s suspicion.
Common warning signs may include:
Not everyone experiences benzodiazepine addiction in the same way. One person may appear visibly sedated, while another may seem outwardly functional but experience intense anxiety whenever a dose is late. Additional signs can include slurred speech, poor coordination, confusion, unusual drowsiness, secrecy, social withdrawal, falls, accidents, and impaired decision-making. The pattern becomes especially concerning when use continues or increases despite clear evidence that it is affecting the person’s safety, relationships, mental health, or ability to function.
Physical dependence occurs when the body adapts to repeated benzodiazepine exposure and reacts when the medication is reduced, delayed, or stopped. It can develop in someone who has followed a prescription exactly and does not automatically mean that person has an addiction. Addiction more commonly includes compulsive use, cravings, loss of control, unsafe behavior, or continued use despite significant harm. Someone may experience dependence, addiction, or both, and each situation requires a careful response rather than blame or assumptions.
This distinction can be especially important for LGBTQIA+ clients who have previously felt dismissed or misunderstood in healthcare settings. A person taking medication for panic attacks, trauma symptoms, insomnia, or gender-related distress may fear that discussing dependence will lead to judgment or the abrupt loss of needed care. Affirming treatment acknowledges the person’s concerns while still addressing medication-related risks honestly. The goal is to understand what is happening clinically, protect safety, and coordinate an appropriate plan without treating the client’s identity or legitimate mental health needs as problems.
Tolerance develops when repeated exposure causes the body to respond less strongly to the same amount of medication. Someone may begin taking an extra pill, using medication earlier in the day, or combining it with another substance to recreate the original effect. Tolerance does not prove that a person has an addiction, but it can increase the risk of dependence, impairment, and unsafe dosage changes. Any change in dosage should be discussed with the prescribing professional rather than managed independently.
Escalating use can be difficult to recognize when it happens slowly. Someone who once took medication only during an occasional panic attack may begin taking it before every stressful event and eventually use it daily. A person taking benzodiazepines for sleep may start using the medication earlier, taking a larger dose, or combining it with alcohol when insomnia continues. Treatment helps identify how the pattern developed and what medical, behavioral, emotional, and environmental support is needed to change it.
Treatment begins with an assessment of benzodiazepine use, prescriptions, withdrawal history, mental health, physical health, trauma, other substance use, living conditions, relationships, and previous efforts to reduce use. This evaluation helps determine whether medical stabilization is needed before outpatient programming can begin. It also gives the treatment team a clearer understanding of what benzodiazepines have been helping the person avoid, manage, or endure. A useful treatment plan addresses the medication pattern as well as anxiety, trauma, sleep, isolation, relationships, and other factors contributing to use.
Affirming care also makes space for identity-related experiences without assuming they are relevant to every client in the same way. A person may want to discuss coming out, transition-related experiences, family rejection, discrimination, spirituality, sexuality, relationships, or safety within their community. Others may not view these concerns as central to treatment and should not be pressured to discuss them. Individualized care respects each person’s name, pronouns, identity, boundaries, culture, support system, and goals.
Therapy can help clients identify the thoughts, emotions, environments, and routines associated with benzodiazepine use. Rainbow Hill Recovery’s outpatient approach includes evidence-based and experiential therapies for mental health and substance use recovery, with group topics that may address mindfulness, life skills, distress tolerance, interpersonal skills, relapse prevention, grief, shame, resilience, and brain health. Trauma-informed and affirmative approaches can help clients explore painful experiences without framing their sexual orientation or gender identity as something to change. The purpose is to increase emotional safety, strengthen coping skills, and support recovery that allows the client to live authentically.
Benzodiazepines should not be stopped suddenly after regular use without guidance from a qualified medical professional. Withdrawal may cause severe anxiety, agitation, insomnia, sweating, tremors, nausea, muscle pain, confusion, unusual perceptions, hallucinations, or seizures. The FDA warns that abrupt discontinuation or an overly rapid dosage reduction can cause serious and potentially life-threatening withdrawal reactions. The appropriate tapering plan depends on the medication, dosage, duration of use, medical history, other substances, and the person’s response to dose reductions.
Rainbow Hill Recovery provides outpatient mental health and substance use treatment rather than medical detoxification or acute withdrawal management. Anyone at risk for benzodiazepine withdrawal should first receive an appropriate medical evaluation from a physician or another qualified prescriber. Outpatient behavioral treatment may become appropriate once the person is medically stable and able to participate safely. Seizures, hallucinations, severe confusion, loss of consciousness, breathing problems, or a suspected overdose require immediate emergency assistance.
Combining benzodiazepines with opioids, alcohol, sleep medications, or other central nervous system depressants can be extremely dangerous. The combined effects can cause profound sedation and suppress breathing, increasing the risk of coma and death. The FDA specifically warns about extreme sleepiness, respiratory depression, coma, and death when benzodiazepines and opioids are used together. Clients should disclose all medications, substances, and supplements to their healthcare providers so potential interactions can be evaluated.
Polysubstance use should be addressed directly during assessment and treatment. Some people combine benzodiazepines with alcohol or opioids to intensify sedation, while others use them to manage the effects of stimulants. In 2024, participating jurisdictions reported 251,940 emergency department visits involving nonfatal benzodiazepine overdoses, although CDC notes that these discharge data do not represent every jurisdiction in the country. The number illustrates why treatment should examine the full substance-use pattern rather than focusing only on one medication.
Rainbow Hill Recovery is an adult LGBTQIA+-competent mental health and substance use outpatient program in Los Angeles. Our available levels of care include a Partial Hospitalization Program, Intensive Outpatient Program, Outpatient Program, and Virtual IOP. Depending on clinical needs, services may include individual therapy, group therapy, addiction education, relapse-prevention work, psychiatric support, medication management, and skills development. Clients participate in structured care while living at home or in another appropriate environment.
PHP provides a higher degree of outpatient structure for clients who need substantial support while remaining outside a residential facility. IOP offers regular therapy, education, and recovery support with greater independence outside program hours. OP may be appropriate for people who need flexible continuing services or who are transitioning from a more structured level of care. Program placement depends on medical stability, withdrawal risk, substance use severity, mental health symptoms, safety, daily functioning, and available support.
Recovery from benzodiazepine addiction involves more than completing a medically guided taper. Clients may need new ways to manage panic, anxiety, insomnia, trauma reminders, loneliness, dysphoria, grief, relationship conflict, and daily stress. Relapse-prevention planning identifies personal triggers, early warning signs, supportive contacts, and specific actions to take when cravings or emotional distress increase. It may also address unused prescriptions, access to medication, relationships with people who misuse substances, and environments where alcohol or other drugs are present.
Community can be especially meaningful for LGBTQIA+ clients who have felt isolated in traditional treatment or recovery settings. Connecting with people who understand identity-related experiences may reduce the pressure to explain, conceal, or defend oneself while trying to recover. Rainbow Hill Recovery’s aftercare may include continued therapy, support groups, regular check-ins, relapse-prevention education, life-skills resources, and community-based recovery connections. These services are intended to help clients maintain accountability, strengthen healthy routines, and build a support network that affirms both recovery and identity.
Rainbow Hill Recovery provides outpatient benzodiazepine addiction care in a setting created to understand and affirm LGBTQIA+ experiences. Our treatment programs address substance use alongside mental health symptoms, trauma, relationships, identity-related stress, and the practical realities of daily life. Clients can access multiple levels of outpatient care, evidence-based therapy, psychiatric support, relapse-prevention education, and personalized continuing-care planning. Care is shaped around each client’s clinical needs, strengths, circumstances, identity, and goals rather than a one-size-fits-all model.
A person does not need to wait for an overdose, job loss, damaged relationship, or another severe crisis before asking for help. An assessment can clarify whether the main concern is physical dependence, addiction, an underlying mental health condition, polysubstance use, or a combination of factors. Rainbow Hill Recovery offers a compassionate environment where LGBTQIA+ adults can discuss benzodiazepine use honestly without hiding who they are or worrying that their identity will be pathologized. Call (310) 341-4887 to speak with our Los Angeles team about benzodiazepine addiction treatment and the next appropriate step.
Joie Gyondla serves as Rainbow Hill Recovery’s Clinical Support Coordinator, bringing compassion, empathy, and a genuine commitment to supporting every client who walks through our doors. With a background in recovery support, Joie understands the importance of creating a welcoming, organized, and affirming environment where individuals feel seen, valued, and supported throughout their treatment journey.
Working closely with both clients and the clinical team, Joie helps ensure that each person’s experience is as seamless as possible, providing encouragement, guidance, and practical support every step of the way. Her calm presence and dedication to helping others foster a sense of safety and connection that allows clients to focus on what matters most: their recovery.
Joie believes that healing begins with compassion and that even the smallest acts of kindness can make a lasting difference. She is proud to be part of the Rainbow Hill Recovery team, helping create a community where every individual is empowered to build a healthier, more authentic future.
Co-Founder of the LGBTQ+ Association for Addiction and Mental Health Professionals Clinical Outreach Specialist for Rainbow Hill Recovery LGBTQ Sensitivity Training Consultant
Steven Buffin-Stewart is the Case Manager at Rainbow Hill Recovery, with over five years of experience in substance use and mental health treatment. A CADC ll professional in recovery themselves, Steven combines clinical knowledge with lived experience to provide compassionate, coordinated care and foster inclusive, affirming spaces where clients feel supported, empowered, and hopeful in their healing journey.
Steven Buffin-Stewart is the Program and Case Manager at Rainbow Hill Recovery, with over five years of experience in substance use and mental health treatment. A CADC ll professional in recovery themselves, Steven combines clinical knowledge with lived experience to provide compassionate, coordinated care and foster inclusive, affirming spaces where clients feel supported, empowered, and hopeful in their healing journey.
Janae Borrego serves as Rainbow Hill Recovery’s Cross-Cultural Relations Officer and Outpatient Therapist, where she combines her clinical expertise with a deep commitment to fostering an inclusive, culturally responsive environment for every client. Her ability to understand, appreciate, and navigate diverse cultural perspectives has made her an invaluable leader as Rainbow Hill continues to grow and evolve.
In her role, Janae works to strengthen cultural understanding throughout the organization, ensuring that clients, families, and staff feel respected, heard, and represented. She provides ongoing guidance on cultural sensitivity and inclusive practices while helping shape programs that honor the unique identities, backgrounds, and lived experiences of those we serve.
As an Outpatient Therapist, Janae is dedicated to helping clients navigate recovery, mental health, and life’s challenges with compassion, authenticity, and evidence-based care. She believes that meaningful healing begins when individuals feel safe to show up as their authentic selves and receive support that acknowledges the whole person.
Janae is passionate about creating spaces where diversity is celebrated, connection is strengthened, and every individual has the opportunity to heal and thrive. Her leadership continues to advance Rainbow Hill Recovery’s mission of providing affirming, trauma-informed care that meets the evolving needs of the communities we serve.
With over a decade of experience in addiction recovery, Andrew is passionate about helping individuals reclaim their lives and find lasting healing. As Co-founder and Director of Rainbow Hill Recovery, he is dedicated to creating a supportive environment that fosters hope, resilience, and transformation.
Joey Bachrach is the Co-Founder and CEO of Rainbow Hill Recovery, an LGBTQ-affirming mental health and substance use treatment center in Los Angeles. Drawing from both professional leadership and lived recovery experience, Joey is dedicated to creating safe, inclusive spaces where individuals are fully seen, affirmed, and supported on their healing journey.