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I've lived with moderate anxiety most of my life, in recent years it has scaled up somewhat and led into bouts of depression. It hasn't been too serious, but although I can live with it, it definitely interferes in my day-to-day ability to do the stuff I need to do. I only recently sought professional help and began seeing a therapist. She asked me to talk about how I cope with these feelings when they get bad, and I was honest with her and told her that I essentially just distract myself from them, usually by reading. I've found that reading fiction, particularly fantasy, transports me from whatever is giving me anxiety and lets the feeling pass. It lets me feel intense emotions when depression is keeping me from feeling them in my own life. I fully expected to be advised against this, to be told that distracting myself from my feelings wasn't a legitimate strategy, that I needed to face reality. But my therapist actually said she thought that was a good, and common strategy that she hears all the time. And that if its working, keep doing it! I'm not saying reading fantasy is a cure-all for these problems, but I really like the idea that it can be an effective coping strategy (among other efforts I'm making toward being mentally well). Stories have been such a huge component of my inner life ever since I was a kid, and the fact that they are so healing for me now makes me smile. Anyways, just felt like tossing this into the internet void in case anyone else has had the same experience and wants to share about it. And love and well wishes to anyone who is dealing with these issues