<s>[INST] Hi there, I am a 26 year old female with severe anxiety. I have a stressful job, in school full-time, a great relationship but with a man who has a lot of baggage (custody battle and horrible ex-wife). I am finding myself wanting to cry for virtually everything and I have become hypersensitive and over-analyze everything from my job to my relationship to how I acted in front of my boyfriend s parents and I am basically just going through the motions to get through the day. I have been prescribed Lexparo but never took it before since I didn t want to change my personality or be heavily medicated or change who I am. My bf was on it for 2 years and loved it as it helped him make better decisions and equal weight to all situations that gave him anxiety. I am hoping for the same for me, so two days ago I have started taking Lexapro (breaking the 10 mgs down to 2.5mgs) so I am not taking a lot as I do not want to suffer major side effects such as acne, weight gain, insomnia and lack of sex drive. What do you reccomend? Is that okay to just be taking 2.5mgs or what should I do? Thank you, Shannon [/INST] Hello, Thanks for choosing Chat Doctor for posting your query. I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through. From what you have stated it is quite clear that you are having a depressive episode. Depression can occur with regular stress, and it can also occur biologically without any stress as well. You need proper treatment for the same. 2.5 mg of Escitalopram won't be effective for you and it's as good as not taking any treatment. You certainly need to upgrade the dose until 10 mg. There are various effective therapies for depression like fluoxetine, venlafaxine, bupropion, mirtazapine or Escitalopram, and they are all very effective and mostly safe. You may also require some benzodiazepines like clonazepam or lorazepam for a short period like 2-3 weeks to reduce the anxiety and help with your sleep.  If you are averse to the Chat Doctor.  This therapy is taken by either a psychologist or a psychiatrist in which the therapist identifies impaired cognitions (Thoughts) and try to correct them. They are 15-20 min weekly session and there should be around 8-10 sessions to help you with your illness. Hope I am able to answer your concerns. If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you. In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below-mentioned link:bit.ly/ </s>