Melissa Villaseñor left 'SNL' due to panic attacks

Comic Melissa Villaseñor says her decision to leave "Saturday Night Live" after six seasons came from anxiety over the weekly pressure of doing the long-running late-night comedy-sketch series.

"It was my decision," Villaseñor, 35, the show's first Latina cast member, said on Monday's edition of The Daily Beast's "The Laugh Last" podcast. "I gave myself a lot of time in the summer to think on it and kind of play it out in my head if I go back. I think at the end of the day it was about my mental health. Last season I had a couple panic attacks. … I always felt like I was on the edge of a cliff every week, that kind of feeling. And I was, like, I don't want to be doing that to myself anymore."

She assured, "It's not like the show was mean toward me or anyone," and explained she is at heart "an introvert. When I'm in a big group of a lot of amazing people, and everyone's speaking over everyone else, I think I tend to get small and I get nervous and, like, 'Where do I fit? What am I supposed to do?' "

Villaseñor, who recently released the self-help workbook of drawings and affirmations "Whoops … I’m Awesome" (Chronicle Books), said there was "nothing else” she felt she wanted to do on the show.

"There was just something telling me I could part ways. And It was super hard because I love Lorne [Michaels, creator of "Saturday Night Live"]," she said, laughing. "And I am so grateful for all of them for having me. And I shared with them that this was my kid dream. This is all I wanted as a kid. So I'm going to carry that forever in my heart, that I got to experience that in my life."

She continues to write and perform new stand-up material. As for the future, "I'm almost, like, reborn or something because I have all this free time. So I’m enrolling in classes … I’m taking guitar lessons, Spanish lessons, I signed up for a pottery class, ceramics. … I'm in a place where I really love learning. I really, really do."