Thomas 🙂:

Thank you for taking the time to explain what the finger and the moon mean to you. I can see how much thought you put into how to handle whatever life brings, and how acceptance helps you stay steady when things feel uncertain.

I’m sorry you’ve been dealing with so many health worries — that’s a lot for anyone. I hope you can be gentle with yourself as you go through all this. Your way of looking at life has a quiet strength to it, and I appreciate you sharing it here.

And that last line you wrote… it touched me. I’m glad you’re here with us 🙏🙏🙏

🤍 Anita

How are you, Going Through Life day 13 of the war(?

🤔🤪 Anita

How are you, Sonia, 17 days since you posted last?

🤍 Anita

Good morning (7 am here, West coast, U.S.A- by the time I submit this message), Good afternoon (4 pm in Greece):

You asked about withdrawal from Klonipin (generic name: Clonazepam) in your previous message. It was very difficult. I kept lowering amounts and stopping altogether only to take it again for the longest time because of the feeling of panic and insomnia when withdrawing.

I did a little study this morning on SSRIs and their effect on MDD & OCD. Here it is:

SSRIs increase serotonin availability in the brain, which can reduce symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). They are considered first‑line treatments for both conditions.

Escitalopram (Lexapro, in the U.S.) is widely studied and is considered one of the more effective and better‑tolerated SSRIs for major depression. A 2023 systematic review found escitalopram superior to several other antidepressants in acute‑phase treatment of MDD.

Many people begin noticing improvement within 2–4 weeks, with full effects often taking 6–8 weeks.

OCD generally requires higher SSRI doses and longer treatment duration than depression.

SSRIs are effective for 40–60% of people with OCD. Improvement often takes 8–12 weeks, sometimes longer.

Many clinicians gradually increase SSRIs to the maximum tolerated dose for OCD because lower doses may not be sufficient. This is consistent with expert guidance that OCD often responds better to higher SSRI exposure.

Escitalopram at 10 mg is the standard starting and therapeutic dose for major depressive disorder. Many people respond well at this dose. For OCD, 10 mg may help, but OCD typically requires higher doses (e.g., 20 mg or more) for optimal effect.

Whether 10 mg is appropriate depends on the individual, their symptoms, side‑effect tolerance, and a clinician’s judgment.

Any dose changes should always be guided by a healthcare professional.

Most SSRIs share a similar side‑effect profile. Many effects are mild and improve over time, especially in the first 1–2 weeks.

* I was on Sertraline (Zoloft, in the U.S.), one of the most studied SSRIs for OCD, “Flexible dosing up to 200 mg, which is important because OCD often needs higher doses”, I read today (I was on 400 mg for years!)

For a much shorter time, I was on another SSRI: Fluoxetine (Prozac).

🧪 💊 🧫 Anita

Wow, Confused: you are Greek? If you were born in Greece and live there, then you are a short distance from where I was born and grew up in (Israel).

It’s only yesterday that I talked in real-life to a man born in Greek He’s very much a proud of his heritage, knows a whole lot of history of Greece and talks about it.

Some of my favorite time was visiting Greece back in my 20s.

As to Zoloft, why I was on it for so long- good question. The psychiatrist told me that the prognosis was that I will always be depressed, lifetime. He was wrong, just to show you that psychiatrists can be wrong.

It was not difficult to get off Zoloft. It was very difficult to get off the Clonazepam (Klonipin) I took together with Zoloft.

I’ll write more later.

Good (early) morning, Confused:

Like I shared with you before, when I first took Zoloft (an SSRI that is prescribed off label for OCD), after maybe a few weeks and perhaps after an increase in dosage (it’s been so long ago, I don’t remember), I noticed a new magical reality (for me)- I wasn’t obsessing or ruminating. I was wonderful.

I took Zoloft (as well as other psych meds) for 17 years and quit them all 12+ years ago.

“Just curious though, what will be the differences in my feelings with this?”- I don’t know. But looking at another thread earlier this morning, I came across something that made me think of you, Confused, and I’d like to share with you because a shift from focusing on how and what you feel or don’t feel to ===> a new awareness may be helpful to you:

“In mystical traditions (like Sufi and Christian mysticism), emotions are seen as temporary, reactive, dependent on circumstances, and rising and falling like weather. They come and go.

When mystics talk about Love, they don’t mean butterflies, infatuation, desire, excitement, or longing. Mystical Love is something deeper — a way of perceiving reality. It’s a state of consciousness.

When love is a state of consciousness, you feel connected rather than separate, open rather than defended, present rather than anxious, spacious rather than contracted, and you feel aligned rather than fragmented.

It’s not about a person. It’s not about romance. It’s not even about emotion. It’s a shift in awareness.

Mystical love is described as: seeing the sacred in everything, feeling unity with existence, experiencing yourself as part of something larger, and recognizing the same essence in all beings

In ordinary consciousness, you feel like a separate self, “me” is here, “you” are there, the world feels outside you, and love feels like something you give or receive.

In mystical consciousness the boundary between self and other softens, the world feels like an extension of your own being, love is not something you do. Love is the experience of oneness. Not intellectually — but experientially.

Mystics describe it like the wave realizing it is not separate from the sea

Think of it like this- Emotion Love= “I love you because…”, “I feel love right now.”, “My love rises and falls.”, “I love this person but not that one.”

Consciousness Love= “I am love.”, “Love is the nature of my awareness.”, “Love doesn’t come and go.”, “Love is the fabric of existence.”

One is personal. The other is universal.

One is a wave 🌊. The other is the ocean 🌅.

Why mystics emphasize this difference? Because emotional love can break, fade, or turn into its opposite. But consciousness-love doesn’t depend on circumstances, or on another person, or on being loved back; it
doesn’t depend on mood or hormones🔥💋. It’s a way of being, not a feeling.”

I find this helpful 🙂

🌊 🔥 🌅 Anita