I don’t get this article. I had the most horrible middle and high school years. I never bought all the yearbooks because I knew back then I wouldn’t want to remember that life. Of the few I did purchase when I would find them in storage I didn’t recycle I burned them. Like burning evidence of bad hairstyles. Never thought twice about it.

Coincidentally, what we do have in common is that you are in London and I’ll be making my first trip there in a couple days. The significance is not only that this will be my first international trip with a passport that I only got a couple of months ago, but that this trip wasn’t possible a year ago. I used to have anxiety attacks that caused me to be ill before I got on a plane. The attacks came at all different times — alone, in company, old situations, new places.

I can’t say that I’ve ever been truly depressed. I’ve been sad, but after a couple days it goes away. After my husband committed suicide three years ago my attacks peaked. I had them constantly and lost a lot of weight. I dropped to 90lbs. I refused to take medication, not because I don’t believe in it, but because I was afraid to become addicted. Most of it says it can cause worsened depression. I rather have anxiety than be depressed.

What changed things for me is that I started doing things I was terribly afraid of. Anything I could think of — eating by myself, movies by myself, networking events, running races, jumping off planks, attending writing groups where strangers tell you writing sucks, you name it. Flying was the last thing and I stopped medicating for flights because they became shorter and I had to work right when I got off. I couldn’t do that under medication. One day I realized I wasn’t afraid to fly anymore and applied for my passport.

No expert on your situation. I would suggest you be more blunt with your writing. Your bio tells me more than your writing. It shouldn’t. If those yearbooks are really yours and you’re “Oaklindish” show your roots.