As I've gotten better I've weaned off medications I had to take. Every time there are withdrawls. It doesn't mean the medication is evil, necessarily. It's just a fact of life when taking medications to treat chronic problems.

About 6 years ago I went into a tailspin of anxiety. I didn't sleep for a week straight. By the end of the week I believed I was going to just die or end up in a padded cell. A doctor prescribed Xanax. That didn't help. Someone else prescribed Ativan. That helped. I slowly got a couple hours of sleep, working my way up to a full night of sleep.

Shortly after that I switched over to Klonopin and went through about 4 years of talk therapy. My life is much much better because of that therapy. I now take Wellbutrin for depression as well as Lithium. I've never felt more like me than I do right now. This is the most present and normal and like myself I've ever felt. Anxiety is real. Chemical deficiencies are real. Childhood trauma is real.

I know you know this, but I'm just trying to say that just because you threw away the Xanax doesn't mean you're done. You probably still need help. And that's okay.

You did help cause it. As did many in the lending industry and Wall Street. What do you all have in common? When the boom was going on you looked around and said "where can I make the most money?" Not, "what moves me, what makes me happy, what am I good at?" Just whatever makes the most money.

Granted, our culture raised you this way, to value material wealth, fake paper wealth over true happiness. But you could have chosen a job that would have made you happy and paid the bills. You could have been a bike messenger or a baker or a small business owner. Instead you took the easy way out and yeah, you helped bring down the economy. I don't feel sorry for you. I hope you figure out what you want to do for work that fulfills you and you go do that.

There are safe(r) careers, but no safe careers. I work in IT. My career is being hollowed out from two directions. From one side jobs are being taken by workers with H1B Visas and outsourcing. On the other side those of us who are a little older are being discriminated against. So even IT, once a great career choice is turning pretty rotten. I'd switch to health care, but I imagine it's in Gold Rush mentality right now and that by the time I got there and did what makes me happy I'd be up against the same crunch.

I think the point is that we're all navigating what's arguably turning into one of the worst economies since the Great Depression. So you have to have empathy for anyone struggling and anyone looking for work. My only point was that in times like these we have to try to make the best choices possible. So I don't see the author's story so much a story of someone's personal plight (although it is one) as much as a cautionary tale of how kids and a risky career can put you in a bad situation. i.e. Kids graduating next May, please consider finding a job that pays the bills and is steady. Put your dreams on hold, make your dreams hobbies, but please mix in some heavy duty pragmatism, because it's going to be a bumpy ride. And if you really want to have kids, you might want to wait a few years. Just saying...