Agoraphobia and Me

Mary Robertson Co-producer, "Human Nature" Kunhardt Productions @ Post Factory NY 233 Spring Street 4th Floor NYC, NY 10013 maryr@kunhardtproductions.com

ANXIETY DISORDER OUTREACH

Kunhardt Productions is currently developing a six-hour documentary series about mental health for PBS’s award-winning science series NOVA. We are looking for individuals to share their deeply felt personal stories about living with Anxiety Disorders; including Panic Disorder, Specific Phobia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, agoraphobia etc.

These stories will help us in our goals of de-stigmatizing and de-mystifying these Anxiety Disorders. They will also enable us to chronicle the emotional and psychological challenges that are shared by the millions of Americans who live with Anxiety Disorders. ABOUT THE SERIES: HUMAN NATURE (Working Title)

…Despite unprecedented knowledge gained in just the past three decades about the brain and human behavior, mental health is often an afterthought and illnesses of the mind remain shrouded in fear and misunderstanding.

- Report of the Surgeon General on Mental Health More than half of the 300 million people that live in the United States today will experience some type of mental health problems over their lifetime. As noted in the Surgeon General’s Report, at any stage of life – childhood, adolescent, parenting years or retirement – an astounding 20 percent of the American public is dealing with mental illnesses. For those struggling with these issues, the problem is compounded both by stigma and the reality that the latest scientific research is not reaching the public quickly enough. According to the Institute of Medicine, it takes 15-20 years from breakthroughs in mental health treatments to become available to the general public. In practice, this means that most individuals and their families are not benefiting from the latest scientific advances. To obtain current information and receive the best care possible, by default most people need to do their own research when they are most in need of help.

To respond to this great need for accurate, up-to-date information, as well as to offer an introduction to the groundbreaking scientific work that is driving discoveries in the field of mental health today, Kunhardt Productions, together with the acclaimed public television science series NOVA, is creating Human Nature (w/t), a multiplatform project that includes a six-hour television series and an ambitious national outreach initiative. Over the course of 3 episodes, the Human Nature (w/t) documentary will follow a dynamic and empathetic host (yet to be cast) as they meet "ordinary people" whose stories (followed closely and over a significant period of time) will illustrate the disorders we are discussing, brilliant and charismatic scientists whose breakthroughs are illuminating those conditions, and innovative and sympathetic clinicians who are drawing upon those insights to develop ever more effective evidence-based treatments.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION COMPANY: KUNHARDT PRODUCTIONS

Kunhardt Productions was founded in 1987 by Peter W. Kunhardt, a veteran of ABC News and the winner of three national Emmy Awards. The company specializes in historical documentary programming, crafted to bring cutting-edge scholarship to popular audiences. It is currently developing two large-scale projects: a four-hour PBS special and companion book, Looking for Lincoln, which will be broadcast as the centerpiece of a national celebration of Lincoln’s bicentennial in 2009; and a six-hour NOVA special for PBS, Human Nature, which is being produced for WGBH and Vulcan Productions.

Over the years, Kunhardt Productions has produced many multi-part historical series. Notably, in 2006, it created the four-hour series, African American Lives for PBS with Thirteen/WNET and Inkwell Films. This series, hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., looked at the deep roots of the African Diaspora by focusing on the genealogies and family histories of well-known African Americans. The New York Times called it "the most exciting and stirring documentary on any subject to appear on television in a long time." In February 2008, a four-hour sequel, African American Lives 2, was broadcast on PBS to similar acclaim.

Other series from the company include: Freedom: A History of US (PBS 2003), an eight-hour documentary based on Joy Hakim's award-winning books from Oxford University Press hosted by Katie Couric with scholarly commentary by Columbia University’s Eric Foner; The American President (PBS 2000), a ten-hour PBS series profiling the forty-one presidents of the United States with commentary by Harvard University’s Richard Neustadt and accompanied by a companion book from Riverhead; Lincoln (ABC 1992), a four-hour documentary series accompanied by a best-selling companion book from Knopf; and P.T. Barnum: America's Greatest Showman (Discovery 1995), a three-hour special accompanied by a companion book from Knopf.

Kunhardt Productions has also created many one-hour documentaries. In 2007, Oprah’s Roots (PBS) traced the genealogy of Oprah Winfrey, and Til the River Runs Clear (PBS) told the story of Pete Seeger’s grassroots effort to clean up the Hudson River. In 2005, the company produced Mandate: The President and the People, which traced the evolution of the office of the presidency (and aired on PBS on Inauguration Day 2005) and The Road To 9/11, a documentary on the historical roots of Islamic terrorism featuring commentary by Bernard Lewis, Thomas Friedman, Fareed Zakaria, Azar Nafisi, and David Fromkin, among others. The Road To 9/11 aired in on PBS in America, Channel Four in England, and CanWest in Canada. Other recent documentaries by Kunhardt Productions include: The Search for Eternal Egypt (History Channel 2005), The Kennedy Tapes Revealed (Bravo 2003), a one-hour documentary based on Robert Kennedy's oral history of his brother's administration; In Memoriam (HBO 2002), a one-hour co-production with HBO that recounts how Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and his staff coped with the terrorist attacks of September 11; The People's Palace (PBS 1992), a documentary about the New York Public Library; Lincoln (ABC 1992), and Echoes from the White House (PBS 2001), a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Executive Mansion. In addition to its documentaries, Kunhardt Productions headed the creative team
responsible for developing the International Freedom Center on Ground Zero in New York, a cultural institution that was designed to connect the tragedy of September 11 to larger themes in world history, aided by a board of consulting scholars that included Anthony Appiah, Timothy Garton Ash, David Herbert Donald, David Hackett Fischer, Walter Isaacson, Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Fareed Zakaria, among many others.

05.07.2008 -

04.18.2008 -

04.10.2008 -

Anyway, thanks for the support so far and to everyone who has signed up for the newsletter. Also, Yahoo! Groups has a lot of great support groups for panic disorder and agoraphobia and if you havent checked them out and want to meet some great people Id suggest Yahoo groups.

04.09.2008 -

drowsiness
fatigue
stomach upset
headache
restlessness
morning grogginess (if taken before bed)
increasing the effects of sedative drugs
lowering of blood pressure

Those are typical side effects and are mild compared to side effects of anti-anxiety medications. If youve taken SEREDYN Id like to hear from you. Ill be keeping everyone up to date as I try this latest natural supplement out.