New anxiety blog.

Anxiety & OCD Exposed is a new blog from the folks over at PsychCentral.com. Check it out.

An agoraphobic tells her story.

Here is the winning essay from a writing contest aimed at lifting the stigma of mental illness, by an Irish 27 year old named Fiona Bradshaw. Following is just a taste:

Most people get up, go to work, go out and play and, in general, live their lives from day to day. Bills, mortgages, kids, jobs -- these are day to day concerns. The 'normals', as I call them, don't consider their mental health, or at least they don't need to -- why would they? I know that when I was well, I didn't consider mine. Not until its fragility was unveiled to me.

I'm not sure if I always had agoraphobia and panic attacks but since my mental health failed me, my world has shrunk epically and I am now tethered to home. I have, for all intents and purposes, become a prisoner in my own life.

But at least I have the best family and friends in the world to count on. Still, it took me a long time to find the confidence to explain everything to them. It also took me a long time to discover what I was going to have to explain.

Many books and many therapists later I think I have a handle on what handles me. I know what happens to me when I panic, I know why it happens. Still, when it creeps over me I always seem to fold because it is so brutally terrifying.

PANIC! wishes you well, Fiona!

Panic and anxiety information.

The U.K. Guardian offers content portals for those interested in panic and anxiety, covering everything from risk factors for panic disorder and cultural factors influencing anxiety to information about agoraphobia and panic disorder treatments.

Good stuff.

Panic attack, "Jackass"-style.

Saw this and knew exactly what this dude is feeling.

TV anxiety.

Increasingly, television programs are giving viewers a chance to get to know real-life panic disorder sufferers. First it was an episode about panic on MTV's True Life; now it's the A&E network's Obsessed:

"'Obsessed' balances intense human drama with redemption," said Robert Sharenow, senior vice president alternative at A&E. "The series will take a raw, honest and emotional look at the world of anxiety disorders while offering those who suffer a path to recovery."

A&E plans to premiere the show in the second half of the year.

Each one-hour episode will feature two cases showing how the disorder affects the person's life and the process of rehabilitation using cognitive behavioral therapy, in which the subject is taught how to manage the anxiety.