You know, Grandma...

When I was living in Florida my sister called me upset.

"I took Grandma to her doctor's visit today."

"Was everything OK?"

"Oh yeah, shels healthy as a horse," she says.

My grandmother is 78 and other than arthritis has had no health problems. Occasionally she suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, something that runs in our family, and thankfully something I have managed to avoid. In my opinion it's more nurture than nature with the women in my family. There might be a genetic component, but really I think its about how they have learned to handle stress, which is basically to not handle it. Exercise? Do some Yoga? Talk about it in a constructive and non-bitchy way? Perhaps not marry an alcoholic? Nah. Let it fester. Eat a bowl of pasta and yap on the phone for two hours with your cousin in the same situation.

My sister was the high-strung one, the kid throwing the temper tantrums, unable to calm down, then the high-pitched teenage screaming and then the twenty-something stress. There's definitely a chemical component there -sometimes she can't calm herself down - but it's also that her tantrums were so ear-splitting that my parents backed away like she was a grenade and didn't teach her how to deal. My sister has been on a mild anti-anxiety medication every now and then but has the healthy understanding that it's something thats needed for a period of time but not forever. She's learned to deal with her stress instead of medicate it and she's learned it the hard way and on her own and is now a pretty healthy and very successful adult. I give her a lot of credit for it.

Why do so many people think stress or anxiety is wrong? Yes, there's the kind of anxiety/panic attack disorder that doesn't let you get out of bed or out of your house or take a shower, affects your life negatively in all sorts of ways and comes on for no reason. That's the kind that might take you to a doctor for a solution. But you know, I've had plenty of anxiety and stress and it's a good, natural reaction. It's helped me change bad things in my life. For example, if you can't pay your bills it's natural to have anxiety. You SHOULD have anxiety. Hopefully that anxiety will get you to fix that situation. Create a budget. Get a better-paying job, or a second job. DO SOMETHING. That's what your body is telling you: Fix the problem. Why is that seen as wrong and something to be medicated? Oh, finals are stressing me out, I need a Prozac? What the hell? Finals have been stressing people out for eons. How dare you attempt to avoid that universal experience?

So, months prior to this doctor's visit, my grandmother had had a panic attack, a bad panic attack. Probably to do with some severe illnesses in the family and her worry over it. At the time she was prescribed a light daily medication maybe Celexa or something, I can't remember, and an emergency Rx of Klonopin to be taken if another severe attack came on.

Well, apparently grandma liked the Klonopin.

"Rebecca, she took two Klonopin before we left for the doctor's! She's 4'8"! Ive never seen her like this. She was walking into the bushes!"

"What did you do?"

"Well, I had to talk to the doctor, of course."

"You narced on Grandma??"

I know this is not really funny, but cmon, how many times can one say that?

"Yes! I narced on Grandma! She lied to the doctor about how many she took and he gave her a lecture and wouldn't give her another prescription. She was pissed! And pissed at me for saying something."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes. That's not a medication you're supposed to be taking every day. So I looked her right in the eye and said:

You know, Grandma, we'd all like to take a Klonopin every day..."