• The Other Me

    The Other Me

    NOTE: Before beginning this week’s installment of The Other Me, I thought I’d recommend an article on Treating Seasonal Affective Disorder over at FIX. It’s well worth the read! So check it out: http://www.fix.com/blog/treating-seasonal-affective-disorder/.   ‘The Long Hard Fall’ ii. Dr Jarasinghe had recommended taking the Aropax every other day for a couple of weeks before stopping completely. It sounded logical and I noticed very little change in myself when I took it like this. That made me think I’d be fine getting off it. I was wrong. The first withdrawal effects were dizziness. Other times, I was light-headed. Often, I’d walk around disoriented, sure that there was something not…

  • The Other Me

    The Other Me

    ‘The Fugue’ v. Arguably the worst side-effect of Aropax was that it dimmed my imagination – maybe not an issue to many, but for me it was about the worst thing that could happen. Prior to Aropax, I could sit down and write anything any time. I’d written previously through anxiety and depression. Now, I struggled. The thoughts flowed sluggishly. Once I got going, I was okay (but never as fluent as I once was), but it was like whatever doorway into my mind gave me access to my writing had mostly closed. Years later, I read about ruminations, which is to reflect or brood negatively and to rehash a…