Keska

I know I was tagged for a meme by , but I wanted to get this out there first. I was reading Penny Arcade today, and Gabe put up a very moving news post about his anxiety issues. I was really affected by this, because I've been there myself. I emailed him about it, and I wanted to post it here, for anyone else who's struggled with the same issues:



Even though I've read your comic for years, I never thought I would end up writing, but here we are.

I hated the idea of taking drugs. I thought it meant I was giving up - I was admitting that I was too broken to deal with life on my own. But it got worse - worrying slipped over into outright paranoia, and I started getting angry at my husband for things that had never actually happened.

So I finally went to the doctor, and he prescribed Lexapro. After about a month it really kicked in... and it was amazing. Minor rejections no longer ruined my day. I could actually stop worrying about things and turn my mind to other tasks. the Lexapro didn't turn out to be ideal - I felt distanced from life and it made it completely impossible to have sex. So after about 6 months I switched over to Effexor. It's great. I feel like myself again... I have the mental energy to be more creative and deal with life's little disturbances.

It's not all sunshine and roses. The dizziness is there, but it usually doesn't bother me. There are still some sexual side effects, but I can live with them. The worst part, really is that if I forget to take my pill at the exact same time every day, withdrawal symptoms start kicking in within about 2 hours. Extreme dizziness and "brain shocks" are no fun to deal with.

But the upshot is this: when people ask me how I'm doing, I can usually say "Good." It was a brave thing you did, going to the doctor. Good luck.

Since I think everyone should check out their work!

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