The Beatles were right

I have been seeing Jake for almost a year. He really struggles with anxiety attacks, especially in social situations, and with bouts of depression. Sometimes it got so bad he would be crying and hitting his head as he drove home from work.

He is about 26, and has been suffering since high school. He has friends, he has a pretty good job, and he functions, but he was not happy. He was often miserable. He has tried several medications and some of them would help for a while, but he couldn't stand the side effects. He settled on a mild anti-depressant, that maybe helped a little.

Because of his anxiety Jake has felt most anxious around women. He had hardly dated, and that made him feel more like a loser. He had a brief relationship with a girl when he was in high school, but that ended in disaster. There was this one other woman whom he liked, but he was never sure if she like him so he was afraid to pursue her.

For weeks that was part of what we discussed in our session. Finally, he understood that maybe she was waiting for him to show he was interested before she would show him that she was.

Well, that turned out to be the case. This woman, who does seem to have her own issues, has been keeping her eye on him for two years, hoping he would approach her.

Now, two months later, they are seeing a lot of each other, and they have some kind of understanding that they are a couple.

Jake is happy, and happy in a way that he has never been. He feels like he a a part of the world. He is hardly anxioius and not depressed. He gets out of bed, goes to work and smiles.

I don't know what would happen if she changes her mind, but that doesn't seem imminent.

Love is the answer: the healer of all wounds, the source of all hope, the force that parts the clouds and brings out the sun. The Beatles were right.