Welcome To My World

Dear Readers,

I know there are many people in this world like myself who have suffered and continue to suffer from panic and anxiety disorder.

According to my therapist approximately 1% of the US poplulation suffer from anxiety and about 1 out of every 100 people suffer from panic disorder.

This pscyhological imprisonment entered my life around the age of 17 while I was a student at a prep school in NY and has continued to be a part of my daily struggle at my current age of 31.

Like most kids during that time I was an active participant in scholastic activites, playing varsity sports, playing saxaphone in the school band. I hung out with friends, and cut an occassional class or two. In retrospect, I had a fairly normal scholastic experience. In fact better than most. However, I was constantly being told by my teachers and school administrators that I wasn't "living up to my potential." If these words have ever been directed towards you, you are thinking, "what the hell does that mean?"
How can we ever know our full potential? This thought provoking question nestled it's way to my very core and made me a prisoner to my thoughts and began my perilous search of "the potential" that my eductors, coaches, therapists and relatives have been trying to get me to discover ever since. I have still yet to find those answers, but instead those questions created a prison of self-doubt, fear of failure, and physical torture in which my mind is my warden and isn't a very merciful one at that. Anxiety is mentally debilitating and exhausting for anyone who has had the slightest experience of having to give a public speech; to a much more chronic and severe disorder which keeps you awake at all hours of the night, manifesting itself through migraines, difficulty breathing, restlessness and countless other physical impairments.

I decided to write this blog and share some of my experiences with you because those restless nights that you and I have spent trying to calm ourselves down while there wasn't anyone around to listen is finally at an end. I am writing this blog to share my pain and experiences with you and hope that you have the courage to share yours. I am not a therapist, nor do I have any clinical experience in this field. I am someone who suffers from this illness and I can empathize and listen in the hopes that we can heal each other. At a minimum we can all know that we aren't alone in this world and we dont require prescriptions and therapists to help us. Though they are a benefit, they aren't enough to find a solution. In fact if we all just sat around and waited for science to find a miraculous cure while breaking our bank accounts, we might just find ourselves in a much worse predicament.

Perhaps words are the cure, and maybe letting them out in a forum such as this is just the solution, or at least a positive step towards living an anxiety free life. I look forward to your responses and a better and brighter future for us all. Im starting to feel better already!!

_The People_