Why do benzos get such a bad rep while SSRIs are given out like candy?

I started having pretty bad panic attacks while in stressful situations about 3 years ago. It got to the point where I could have lost my job so I went to my Primary and they gave me Xanax to be taken as needed (before public speaking for example). It worked great but then I start having panic attacks in non stressfull situations, seemingly for no reason. I went back to my primary and they prescribed me a SSRI and took me off the xanax saying it was "addictive". I looked up the side effects for the SSRI and they were worse than anything I saw on benzo...including non being able to have sex and "brain zaps". I threw that script in the trash and went to a Psycologist who basically told me that Primary Docs just look to cover their butts and what hey tried to give me would have done no good. He put me on 1 mg of Klonopin 3 times per day and gave me some xanax to take as needed. That was well over a year ago and my life has change for teh better. Not a single panic attack. Not "addicted" (though I'm sure I would have withdraw if I tried to stop takingg it cold turkey but that is the case with most drugs and would just be stupid) but on nearly every site I read all these horror stories about how bad benzos are. Normally when you dig deeper into these tales, it turns out the people were ABUSING the benzos, taking out illegal drugs with them, binge drinking, etc... I guess my point here is that people should not be afraid to take benzos to deal with anxiety. They are by far the best med for this situation and if used as prescribed (including tapering off slowly under a docs supervision if needed), completely safe.

Thoughts. Good stories to tell about benzos? Please save the horror stories for a different thread.

I have taken Klonopin for years, and I am doing okay. In fact, I have cut down on it as my problems in life causing stress have lessened.

Me too, I've been taking Klonopin for years without a problem. I guess for some people the effectiveness appears to wear off so they take more and more. This can happen with anything including chocolate. As with any med, you have to respect it and listen to your body.

I took klonopin because sleep is impossible for me but I finally realized that it was making me so tired that I could not function the next day. It's great for when my anxiety is out of control though

I'm on benzos AND an SSRI. They work well together for me