Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice
I was prescribed benzos because of sleeping issues, but I was also taking phenibut at the same time.  After about 3 weeks of using large doses of the benzos every night, I stopped taking them, but a year later I still feel pangs of withdrawal sometimes when I get stressed.  It took me another 4 months to get off the phenibut and a month or so after that before my sleep returned to normal.  There were months where I maybe got an hour or two of sleep a night.  If I got stressed, I simply wouldn't sleep at all.  I once went three days without sleep.  The torment of that combined with the withdrawal from the drugs showed me what hell was like.  I tell everyone to never take benzos for any reasons.  I don't care how safe the doctors say they are; they aren't.  Period.  There are repercussions - as this study shows - and they will not help the underlying cause of your issues.  Treat the cause, not the symptoms.