[pedagogue]

Welcome to SR. I am glad you found my little corner of the forum.

I think you have made an important step....deciding you need a change. I think a few things need to happen to facilitate this. First off, you need to get your med management figured out. Right now your Xanax is medicating some of the anxieties you are having. If you change this, you need to make sure you have an appropriate alternative coping mechanism i place....bceause when you take out/change the xanax, your body won't know what to do when anxiety comes. (see note below for suggestions) It was also suggested that you take an anti-depressant. It is important to educate yourself about the different types out there. You have mentioned a few 'side effects' that may or may not be applicable to the medication.

Also, to clarify, takig an anti-depressant is not going to make you more likely to kill someone or yourself. The much talked about study focused on the increased presence of suicidal ideations in the test group. The overall 'increase' was not a great deal (over the control group), but it was enough to find a significant finding in their study. No child killed themselves as a result, which was also thought to be true. As for gaining weight....that can be a side effect, though rare (I don't know the prevelance %), but it is best to check with your prescribing doctor...because everyone reacts differently to a medication.

Phew...that was more typing than I thought I'd do.

I wanted to suggest seeing a therapist. They can help you address some of your social anxieties and personal issues you may be having. Through therapy, I think you can start to reconnect to the world. (You found SR, and that is a great start!) Also, you can develop coping mechanisms to better react (and be proactive) to situations that make you uncomfortable.

I need to get going, but I'd like to hear what you think about the above.

-pedagogue