Meltdown Introduction

In the fall of 2010, perhaps due to years of stress from non-stop deadlines, I suffered a massive onslaught of anxiety, turbo-charged by chronic insomnia and ceaseless "health anxiety" ruminations. I'd had my moments struggling with anxiety since my twenties when I went off to college, but I had been in recovery for years -- to the point of actually forgetting about these earlier episodes. Before the latest relapse hit, and hit hard, I thought I had "put it all behind me." I  eventually came to realize that what I thought of as "hypochodriasis" or "a neurosis" is actually a very wicked form of "checking" OCD. At the urging of my therapist, Dr. R., I created an autobiographical comic strip about this time, Meltdown. I've tried to make it entertaining as well as eductional, and hope it will shed some light on what to expect for those who may struggle with OCD and mental health issues.