I was hoping I could get some insights from some of the others here. I've been dealing with depression my entire life, though I wasn't diagnosed until 2001. Since then I've been on Prozac and have done pretty well. Then, in early 2010 I had the most severe episode to date; in addition to the crippling feelings of worthlessness, I experienced several months of extreme anxiety, during which I lost thirty pounds. I teach at a university, and just the thought of having to stand in front of a class gave me anxiety attacks. Fortunately, my students never seemed to catch on, though it made it hard for me to function. This episode occurred at the beginning of a new semester, and ever since then whenever a new semester begins--particularly in January--I go through several weeks of almost paralyzing anxiety. I get sick and withdrawn and panicky. My wife is incredibly understanding, but of course there's only so much she can do. I'm just wondering if anyone here has experienced anything like this, depression with an anxiety component. If so, what steps (if any) have worked for you? This seems to be getting worse each year, and I'm losing the energy to cope.