I'm not in AA- I reject the 12 step model completely and instead do SMART. While I disagree with other posters who seem to imply that using a controlled substance for a legitimate purpose is not ok in recovery- using valium for prolonged periods may be a bad choice for anyone, especially if they have any kindling from alcohol or tendency to addiction/compulsive use. It is bad not because benzos are so good that everyone will like them too much, but because they eventually start to cause the same issues they are meant to treat through interdose effects. When I was on valium long term, my anxiety issues actually worsened after the initial few months. Despite it being a long acting drug, I'd start to randomly feel irritable and then jittery a few hours after a dose.

But I will give you this: I attempted to improve my alcoholism by using valium instead. It was the wrong choice. Alcohol is more toxic to your organs but benzos seem to fuck your brain chemistry way more and for a lot longer. While they both produce the same type of symptom in withdrawal, getting off alcohol was a 4 day affair, while detoxing from valium took me about a year and each tiny reduction in dose would hurt for like 2 weeks. Scientific evidence points towards this not being my own personal experience. Benzo dependence seems to take a different trajectory than other physical dependencies- with prolonged withdrawal, PAWS, and/or very long tapers being the norm.