My father's battle with alcoholism made for a chaotic household and upbringing. Living on pins and needles, my own battle with anxiety and depression began early in my life. As a seven-year old I can remember having bad dreams and a lot of scary thoughts.

As a teenager, my problems progressed. While my friends were concentrating on high school, sports and boys, I was focused on my health problems. I suffered from bouts of irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, nervous stomach, and developed eating disorders. I also experienced these strange periods of "unreality." It's hard to describe these eerie, dreamlike periods. But I would feel strangely detached from myself and my surroundings.

I worried constantly - about EVERYTHING! I worried about being liked. I worried that something bad was going to happen to my family. I worried about my health - fearing I had this disease or that illness.

It was around my twenties when my world became most limited and intolerable. I was having panic attacks on a daily basis. It wasn't long before I began limiting my activities to avoid these attacks. I had difficulty driving, flying, socializing - even sitting in closed-door meetings at work. I was an emotional roller coaster, frustrating everyone around me with my obsessiveness and negative, irrational thinking.

I visited doctor after doctor, saw specialists, psychiatrists and had just about every medical test known to man at the time. I literally spent a SMALL FORTUNE over 10-years looking for answers and relief from my heart palpitations, headaches, stomach problems and other symptoms. Yet, I wasn't getting any answers.