Through childhood, I had so many irrational worries to the point I'd be up all night, tossing and turning with the fear that something horrible was about to happen to me at any waking moment. As I grew up, I found those irrational fears—along with many others I’d incurred over the years—and the need for control in general did not subside. As much as I always wanted to “relax” (“relaxing”: a remedy people love to prescribe when they can’t empathize with your symptoms), I never could. My brain usually felt (and still sometimes feels) like a hamster wheel that never stops running. Seeing a few different therapists for years on and off, albeit helpful, was not enough—and although I really hated to admit it, the anxiety was seriously affecting my daily life and I needed additional help.
After talking to my primary care doctor, she prescribed me SSRIs—or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, medications commonly used for people with certain mental health conditions. However, after trying two different options over the course of a year, I was not convinced I had found the one. Both gave me side effects I was uncomfortable with, and I became worried I’d never find one that worked well and didn’t come with a laundry list of additional unwelcome symptoms (brain fog, lethargy and memory loss to name a few). Luckily, my therapist at the time suggested I ask my primary care doctor about the GeneSight® test—and the silver lining appeared. Anyone who’s taken SSRIs knows that it can often be a guessing game of what may or may not work. While Lexapro, for example, may work for my best friend, it may not work as well for me, which could be in part due to my genetic makeup—and that is exactly what the GeneSight test helps your clinician navigate.
