If you're talking about something like Prozac, I wouldn't. One of my old bosses was on that, then they lowered his dosage. He had an anxiety attack so bad that he called 911 and spent 3 weeks in a psych ward. People can kill themseleves when they go off it. If you take Prozac, it looks to me like you have to take it for life.
In case it's genetic - I recommend Celexa. For many of the same reasons. I've been on it since 11/11 (took me two months to realize I was getting used to living in/with dread.)
Personally, I wouldn't take any meds but try and focus on why you're feeling anxious and what you can do about it - perhaps take up yoga or similar?
If you're really worried, you could try to get Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which my ex is on and it's really helping her.
(Although you'd probably have to pay for it, wouldn't you? How annoying.)
How long do you take to wash your hands?
Bill -- yeah, this more musing than any action plan, so don't worry.
Catherine--I don't put much stock in yoga and that stuff for this kind of calmdown, though I do some yoga on a weekly basis. It is something that I've had moderate success "thinking" my way out of, I wonder if Cognitive Behavioral Therapy would advance that.
Finally, Lex...I dunno....typical? Maybe a little quicker than that? Why?
PS anyone click to see my Nuclear War Fun Club notebook cover?
Well. . .it's just reading about the amount of anxiety you have, it sounds kind of similar to another friend of mine who has OCD. Of course, I really can't make a "diagnosis," as I'm not a psychologist with an education and such.
I think I can be somewhat obsessive, myself, but not necessarily compulsive. When I had been plagued by my internal obsessive thought processes, myself, I read this book about Cognitive Behavorial Therapy, and it really helped me to move on with my life from the ghosts of my obsessions onto a happy stage where I am now. I can let you borrow a book that I have about it from back in the '70s that has a pretty cheesy cover but has some good tips on dealing with crap.
What the Bleep ran for about nine months over the last year, at the single-screen Valley Art Theater.
That's why I'm hoping Never Been Thawed is going to become a hit -- I don't want that movie coming back. Some parts are cute, and the visual pun of Quark appearing in a movie about quantum physics was clever, but, all that newage can't be good. It might sucker in someone who might otherwise have learned enough about science to not fall for it... if that makes sense.
Nick -- yeah, I've heard science-minded people griping a bit about the over application of some narrowly defined scientific observations, like quantum physics and Goedel's Incompleness Theorem.
My mom reminded me of another early spooking: I went to a Sunday School class taught by my Aunt Ruth, and the course material was all about Revelations...that image of the guy blindfolded up in front of a firing squad for his Christian beliefs sticks with me to this day.