I have read that emergency rooms and doctors prescribe benzos for alcohol detox not only for comfort, but for a very real preventative to seizures. Benzos are anticonvulsants.
And they are highly addictive. The manufacturing labels on all benzos state they are to be used for a very short time, like two to four weeks at max. Many report becoming addicted to them in that short amount of time.
And benzo withdrawal is a very scary thing. While alcohol detox can take three to seven days, detoxing from benzodiazepines is filled with paradox. Patients (especially this one) report feeling very uncomfortable during the initial week or so of detoxification, but the real hell begins once the drug is out of your system. The brain literally has to rewire to deal without the absence of the benzo. In my case and from what I've read in many cases, the horror begins about two weeks out from the last ingestion of a benzo.
That's the way it was for me, complete with hallucinations, sky-high blood pressure, seizures, psychosis. Then I had six months dealing with a host of post withdrawal symptoms.
I wasn't prescribed benzos for alcohol detox, but rather had a 10 year run with them for panic disorder and anxiety. I quit booze and benzos at the same time. The booze withdrawal was narly for a few days. They benzo withdrawal kicked in two weeks later and left me hospitalized for 10 days.
A benzo is great for alcohol detox and can be life saving in the prevention of seizures. I think the danger begins when the alcoholic continues to take benzos after initial alcohol detox and doctors prescribe them for long term thinking the benzo is helping his or her patient abstain from alcohol. The doctor could be setting the long-term benzo user up for a world of hurt.
And people reportedly build up a tolerance to a benzo quickly, like in a manner of weeks. So they need more of the drug as time goes on and many experience a mini-withdrawal in between dosing that reinforces the addiction.