Hey Ant, you've really taken up the mantle in here. It's great to see someone who's as hungry for information on the subject and does his research. For some of us, we become experts in this field to try to make sense of this hall of mirrors we go through. I hope it's not condescending to say you're doing admirably.
I'm at 18 months out, down to 2.48mg of valium and still tapering (for those not in the know, that's about 1/2 of the smallest dose of Xanax per day). I had a recent bout of PAWS that was different than most in that it was mimicking mental illness more than most episodes do. I've found they have a "type". One will be a nausea bout. The next might be aches and pains. The next might be all about poor sleep. But they're specific and...pointed. The bastards.
Anyway, I went through about three weeks. It wasn't acute all the time, but the baseline was pretty uncomfortable. But then it broke, and I had a month of decent life. It was such a breath of fresh air that I actually let go of the fear that I knew it would come back and make me miserable again. I had these sublime little pockets where I forgot that I've been hobbled so much. It was the best I'd felt since quitting again. I'm back to feeling meh, but it's less acute. A year ago, I could barely form a cogent thought, but now I'm back to rants and research and reading. Not all the way back, but I can see a future where I'll be my old eccentric self.
To anybody else who wrote about anxiety while dealing with people or new situations, this is totally normal. It's called "psychosocial dysfunction". (Words are fun!) Anyway, I have this and it has lingered more than my previous withdrawal. I sometimes shy away from discussion because I'm worried that, if I receive the appropriate prompt, I will speak every thought I've ever had, which would be no good for anybody. Years ago, I remember interacting with people so smoothly and deftly. I daresay I was even a little charming. Now in conversations, I tend to fantasize about hurling a smoke bomb at the floor and absconding behind the cloud like a ninja. And I'm in the absolutely wrong profession for this: I'm a teacher. A daily public speaker. Ugh.
Anyway, we're all taking lumps, learning lessons, and planting flags. We might not all get out of this at the same time, but we'll all make it out together.
Matt