Helen, your story intrigues me. I do hope you — hm, what’s the word? Conquer your earworm? Quiet the thing all the way down? Find the on-off button? I’m glad #1 that you do exhaustive research and #2 have found some remedies. I had a question about the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for this when you mentioned that. Professionals do recommend it for a lot of different human botherations (not sure that’s a word!). I finally checked a recommended book (“Feeling Good” by Dr. David Burns) out of the library to learn more about depression and using CBT for it. There’s a list of 10 different mental tricks we can play on ourselves while we’re depressed — or have other annoying symptoms. I copied the page of mental distortions to remind myself now and then of how my mind can trip me up. The book really is designed to be employed for self-help. It’s also recommended for those bothered by insomnia, of all disparate things.
I love reading anything you write! So I’m joining your newsletter. Thanks!