A couple of conversations I had at the Monkey Parents' 40th anniversary party at the weekend suggested that a) more people read my blog than I thought and b) that I scared the bejesus out of some people by my post about my panic attack.
The follow-up, then, is that I started taking anti-depressants, and now I feel much better. In fairness, there's a chance that simply admitting I was having anxiety issues in the first place might have made me feel better, but despite a recently-published study that suggests they don't work, the anti-depressants feel to me like they're working. Interestingly, according to Bad Science editor Ben Goldacre, the really interesting finding of that study is not that anti-depressants don't work (apparently that's not really what it says), but that drug companies continue to bury the studies they don't like, and are able to get away with it.
In any case, I only intend to take them for a few months in order to get my act together a bit. I'm thinking of trying cognitive behavioral therapy. It seems like a good time.
3 comments:
You even managed to scare the crap out of some people who've never even heard of you, when I recounted your description of the panic attack.
I've heard encouraging things about CBT. I hope it proves useful for you.
I've done CBT. It rocks. It was the lovely doctor who recommended it - remember him - and the therapist is in that medical centre on Fitzwilliam St. Her name is Siobhan I think. She was brilliant.
In fact, I was thinking of doing some more around my 'anti-authority issues', as I really need to grow the hell up in some work-related ways.
Glad you're doing better!
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