Kelsey Darragh

• Comment: Please see WP:42 for more information on what kind of sources you need to show that your subject qualifies for a Wikipedia article. At least three suitable sources are generally required; a suitable source meets all three criteria in WP:42. In particular, interviews with or sources written by the subject (or their friends, family, colleagues, etc) are not considered independent.
  The Famous People is user-generated and must not be used as a source in a biography of a living person - please remove it, and either find another source for the information cited to it or remove that information too.
  Most of your sources are based on interviews with Darragh. She might qualify under WP:NAUTHOR, but Goodreads is not a usable source and the other review is a self-published source and also cannot be used. If you can track down professional reviewers who have chosen to write about the book, that would be very useful for your draft. I suspect Darragh may qualify for an article, and with some work and better sources you could probably get the draft accepted. See if you can find some really good sources before trying again! Meadowlark (talk) 01:13, 18 July 2026 (UTC)

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Kelsey Darragh
Born	(1990-08-06) August 6, 1990 Tampa, Florida, U.S.
🏳️ Nationality	American
💼 Occupation	Comedian filmmaker author podcaster mental health advocate
📆 Years active	2012–present
Known for	BuzzFeed anxiety videos; Don't F*cking Panic (book)

Kelsey Darragh (born August 6, 1990) is an American comedian, filmmaker, author, podcaster, and mental health advocate. She is best known for her viral mental health videos produced at BuzzFeed, which have accumulated over 250 million views in aggregate, and for her 2020 interactive workbook Don't F*cking Panic: The Shit They Don't Tell You in Therapy About Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, & Depression, which became an Amazon bestseller in the mental health category. She is also recognized for her television work on E!'s Dating: No Filter and for a 2019 Sundance Institute New Voices fellowship. A self-identified bisexual woman, Darragh has been a public advocate for mental health awareness and disability visibility throughout her career.

Early life and education

Kelsey Darragh was born on August 6, 1990, in Tampa, Florida. She has described growing up in a scientifically oriented household and developed an early interest in performance and entertainment. She attended Auburn University from 2008 to 2010, studying film, radio, and television, before transferring to the New York Film Academy (NYFA), from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in filmmaking in 2012. Following graduation, she relocated to Los Angeles, California.

Career

Digital media and BuzzFeed

After moving to Los Angeles, Darragh began building a following on YouTube, where her video "Shit Girlfriends Say" attracted significant online attention and helped launch her digital media career. She subsequently joined BuzzFeed as a video producer, eventually becoming a development partner at the company. During her tenure, she produced hundreds of videos with an average viewership exceeding 14 million per video.

In 2015, during Mental Health Awareness Week, Darragh created "My Pill Journey," a stop-motion video in which she used her actual prescription medications to form images and narrate her experience with mental illness. The video attracted widespread attention and established her as a prominent voice on mental health in digital media. Her mental health-focused content on the platform accumulated over 250 million total views.

She also created Am I Doing This Right, an original show for Comcast's Watchable streaming platform, and developed a true-crime pilot for Oxygen's linear channel.

Television

Darragh made an early acting appearance on the ABC sitcom Suburgatory, playing the character Meredith in the episode "I'm Just Not That Into Me" (March 12, 2014). In 2019, Darragh joined the cast of Dating: No Filter, E!'s flagship comedy dating series, as one of the show's comedic commentators in its second season. She is also a co-host of Guilty Pleasures, a film and television commentary podcast.

Filmmaking

In 2019, Darragh was selected for the Sundance Institute's New Voices fellowship for Where We Are, a dramatic comedy limited series she created about mental health and relationships.

Her 2021 short film It's All in Your Head, which Darragh wrote and directed and which stars actress Carly Chaikin, won Best Indie Short Film and Best Dark Comedy at the Los Angeles Film Awards. The film also screened at the Beloit International Film Festival.

Darragh subsequently directed and executive-produced the documentary short In Custody of the State: A Case for Saraya, developed in partnership with Springhill Productions, entered the film festival circuit.

Podcasting

Darragh has hosted several podcasts throughout her career. Confidently Insecure charted in the top rankings of the iTunes Society & Culture category. She has also appeared as a guest on podcasts including Uninvisible Pod, where she discussed trigeminal neuralgia and chronic pain, and Her First $100K, where she discussed her career and mental health advocacy.

Don't F*cking Panic and wellness work

In 2020, Darragh published Don't F*cking Panic: The Shit They Don't Tell You in Therapy About Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, & Depression (The Thought & Expression Co., ISBN 978-1-949759-27-3 Search this book on .), an illustrated, interactive workbook offering tools for managing anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. The book reached Amazon's bestseller list in the mental health category and was described by reviewers as combining practical therapeutic techniques with Darragh's characteristic humor.

In 2023, Darragh co-founded the "Don't Panic! Retreat," a four-night residential wellness retreat held at a private estate in Malibu, California. The retreat, which she organized with co-founder Tianna Dao, offered therapeutic workshops adapted from the workbook's curriculum, including elements of somatic therapy and inner-child work.

Mental health and disability advocacy

Darragh has spoken publicly about living with anxiety disorder, panic disorder, major depressive disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She has described experiencing her first dissociative panic attack at age 17, before receiving a formal psychiatric diagnosis.

In addition to her psychiatric conditions, Darragh lives with Type 2 trigeminal neuralgia with Type 1 flares, as well as anesthesia dolorosa, a condition that causes constant spontaneous facial pain. She has attributed the onset of her trigeminal neuralgia to a jaw surgery performed in 2015 that resulted in nerve damage. She has used her public platform to raise awareness of trigeminal neuralgia, a condition recognized as one of the most painful neurological disorders.

Darragh serves as an ambassador for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and has raised funds for the organization through merchandise sales. She has delivered keynote addresses and panel appearances on mental health topics through the Family Action Network and other organizations.

Personal life

Darragh publicly identifies as bisexual and has been open about her sexuality and gender fluidity throughout her career. She has discussed her past use of alcohol as a form of self-medication for her mental health conditions and chronic pain. She resides in Los Angeles, California.

Bibliography

• Don't F*cking Panic: The Shit They Don't Tell You in Therapy About Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, & Depression (The Thought & Expression Co., 2020) ISBN 978-1-949759-27-3 Search this book on .

Filmography

As director

Year	Title	Type	Notes
2021	It's All in Your Head	Short film	Won Best Indie Short Film and Best Dark Comedy, Los Angeles Film Awards; Beloit International Film Festival
TBA	In Custody of the State: A Case for Saraya	Documentary short	Developed with Springhill Productions; festival circuit

External links

• Kelsey Darragh on IMDb
• Kelsey Darragh on BuzzFeed

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