My first panic attack occurred in early high school.

I was having strange heart palpitations for a few weeks and thought it could be a medical issue. I later learned that this was just a symptom of anxiety, but that's beside the point. I thought there was something wrong with my heart, so my anxiety was through the roof for weeks. One day, I worked myself up so much about this that it became hard to breathe. I was 16 years old, hyperventilating in the living room with an irregular heart beat, begging somebody call an ambulance.

This was my first panic attack.

See, anxiety runs in my family, but nobody gave me "the talk" on what anxiety is or how to beat it. This lack of resources regarding anxiety caused me to suffer longer than necessary while I looked for answers:

• Despite girls liking me, I actually went to prom alone, due to.. you guessed it! Social anxiety. 
• Trying new things was a struggle due to intense and frequent panic attacks.
• My grades started to suffer due to my skipping or avoiding class assignments on particularly bad days. 
• Anxiety squandered away my best high school years, but I was determined to enjoy college..

I graduated with a BA in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the State University of New York at New Paltz. While working on my degree, I took every opportunity to push past my comfort zone and face anxiety head-on. I made great efforts to understand the very nature of anxiety, experimenting often with every possible way of treating it. As a result, my social, dating, and personal life excelled greatly. In fact, people I meet today are shocked to hear I ever suffered from anxiety!

Panic attacks and anxiety are largely a thing of the past for me, and I'm hoping to help you achieve the same.

My mission with this website is simple. I want to help bring mental health awareness and solutions to those who would otherwise never bother learning about their anxiety.

I consider myself very fortunate to have gotten a handle on my anxiety; Not everyone is this lucky. Why do you think that is?

If everyone has the potential and the desire to beat their anxiety, why don't they?

Even within my own family, I see individuals with varying degrees of anxiety and extremely varied ways of handling that anxiety; some ways certainly less effective than others. I know that these family members want a solution to their anxiety more than anything, there are some issues with the resources currently available:

• Traditional therapy is not for everyone; some cannot afford it, others may be too stubborn to even consider it.
• Not everyone is going to read a 300-page self-help book; some people simply aren't readers and researchers. 
• Not everyone cares about the science; some people just want practical solutions.
• Some feel it is easier to rely on medication which ultimately builds dependence and worsens anxiety; these people may be better off using daily supplements but they can't be sure what actually works and what's a scam!

This website is for those people. Those who slip through the cracks. Those for whom traditional methods aren't enough.

You might not be able to convince your blue-collar uncle with social anxiety to read a 300-page book, but could you convince him to skim through a short article or video on methods for stopping a panic attack? I'd say the latter is certainly more likely.

If you or someone you love is having a tough time with their anxiety disorder, please don't hesitate to share this website or a relevant article with them. In the mean time, feel free to subscribe to the Don't Panic Do This Newsletter, to be the first to know about exclusive new content!