NARRATOR:
Spanish twins, Emilio and Ivan Martinez
moved thousands of miles to LA,
where they became hugely famous
for making content.
But living far from home in a house of other teenagers
filled them with anxiety
that they are still struggling with.
-We were 17. We were young. -We were young.
We were young, and...
and that's...
that's where we started being anxious 'cause...
we were down and we didn't know how to handle it.
Yup.
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR:
some of YouTube's most popular creators
on a series of field trips,
to explore some of philosophy's most intriguing ideas.
This time, the Martinez Twins...
♪ Martinez Twins ♪
♪ We're about to hit it ♪
NARRATOR:
are looking at anxiety.
An issue the twins...
have had to deal with themselves.
I think for us, anxiety is the biggest problem
-we have right now. -Yeah.
NARRATOR:
as the number one mental health issue.
For many people, it's characterized
as overwhelming feelings of loneliness,
inadequacy and failure.
Magnified by social media
with its never-ending images of unattainable perfection.
In this video,
we're going to discover
how the Martinez Twins experience the situation
that sent their anxiety levels through the roof.
They'll discover more about what makes them anxious, and why.
And then we'll learn some practical steps we can all take
to help us avoid anxiety.
But first...
A 60-second guide to anxiety.
We live in a time of high anxiety,
with social media providing constant updates
on just how much fun and success everyone else is having.
Why is everyone else enjoying a better career,
more friends, nicer stuff and better sex than we are.
It's the age of ultimate FOMO.
But there's nothing new about our constant state of anxiety.
Being anxious is just who we are.
Countless generations of evolution
have favored the survival of the natural-born warrior.
-[MAN SCREAMS]
-[GROWLS]
of sorts. Previous cultures
could draw upon deep wells of spirituality
to assure them that everything was fine.
They didn't worry about every little detail
because they believed that ultimately
they were part of a bigger plan.
A tiny cog in a giant machine.
Can we rediscover that freedom from anxiety
by letting go of our egos?
Finding relief and even taking delight
in the knowledge that it's not all about us.
Accepting that we and everyone else on the planet
are just fallible imperfect warriors
won't stop us from being anxious,
but could it stop us being anxious
about being anxious?
EMILIO:
and we started making videos on the internet,
having fun, and we didn't know
-this was about... -...to be our life.
NARRATOR:
the Martinez twins moved to America,
to join a group of other young influencers
who lived together in a house in Los Angeles.
Within just three months, their fan base soared
from 400,000 subscribers to over three million.
[CROWD CHANTING] Go, Martinez! Go, Martinez!
NARRATOR:
became hugely stressful for the 17-year-olds.
Away from home for the first time,
barely speaking English,
and without any family support,
the twins experienced overwhelming feelings of anxiety.
And moved back to Spain,
where they stopped creating content altogether.
I want to say thank you to, um, our fans.
-We love you guys so much. -Bye, guys.
-Peace. -Peace.
NARRATOR:
Dean Burnett is a doctor of neuroscience,
who explains the physical origin of anxiety
in the evolution of the brain.
A lot of this anxiety is down to
how our brains have evolved and developed,
but they've done this over millions of years.
Of course, the modern world is only a few 100 years old,
and our brains simply haven't had the time to develop
ways to recognize and cope with modern threats, dangers and issues
which cause anxiety.
So, if you see the brain here,
this part at the top there, that's the neocortex.
That's the most complex part of the brain.
That's the human part of the brain
where all our imagination and planning
and thinking and language comes from.
That's relatively new,
and evolved less than two million years ago.
Whereas this part here, the limbic system in the middle,
that's where the threat response comes from.
That's like 50 million years old or older.
That's from a time when we were primitive creatures.
We were constantly encountering predators and dangers and risks.
Whereas now we have taken control over the world.
And as a result of this,
the fundamental parts of our brain
which control the fear and anxiety response,
they don't really have the ability
to tell the difference between
-being chased by a lion... -IVAN: Mmm-hmm.
DEAN: ...and the possibility of putting a video online
-that people don't like and having a negative reaction. -Yeah.
So, the brain responds to these things
in the same way when it shouldn't.
People your age are actually far more prone to anxiety
because the parts of your brain
which tell those fundamentals bits,
"Keep quiet, calm down," those are still developing.
EMILIO:
-IVAN:
It's a common thing, like, a lot of people have it.
You're not alone.
NARRATOR:
is the first step to learning that anxiety is natural, not abnormal.
We need to learn to accept it.
But we also need to learn to cope with it.
Dr. Elena Touroni is a consultant psychologist
who specializes in treating anxiety disorders.
Unusually, for such inseparable identical twins,
Emilio and Ivan are taking turns to confide in Elena.
While we were in the US,
we were working everyday.
There was a lot of pressure.
I don't wanna fail.
And if I fail, I don't want my brother to fail.
And my mind thinks,
"If you don't wanna fail, just don't do it."
One thing that I noticed is that both you and your brother
mentioned, sort of, very powerfully,
this idea of wanting to get out of the situation.
-IVAN: Mmm-hmm. Yeah. -Kind of run away from the situation,
which is very typical of anxiety.
Whenever we're feeling threatened,
we want to escape.
If you were able to challenge that negative thought,
and giving yourself a positive message,
"Look, it will be okay."
We've done this a few times,
people really enjoy watching us.
And even if something was to go wrong momentarily,
you and your brother will be able to find a way to recover.
It's really important not to become too worried
about being worried,
It's very straightforward
to, kind of, get help
-with feelings of anxiety. -EMILIO: Mmm-hmm.
Very simple techniques,
such as deep breathing, mindfulness,
can make a very big difference to relieving feeling of anxiety.
NARRATOR:
on experiences in the present moment,
and one of the most effective ways of combating anxiety.
Veronika Rakli teaches relaxation through aerial yoga.
Can she help the twins relieve their anxieties
by learning to experience the joy of the present.
VERONIKA:
-To feel safe... -VERONIKA: Okay.
...when I feel anxious.
So, this is what aerial yoga can help with,
to soothe the body.
Sitting in hammocks helps you to feel more secure.
More safe.
Because you can create your own bubble
around your body.
It is only you, your mind, your body.
You are present in the moment and you are present in the body.
And how do you feel now?
I feel relaxed.
-I almost fell asleep. [CHUCKLES] -IVAN: Yeah.
This really works.
'Cause you gotta be focusing on what you're doing.
And your mind is, like, really clear.
And I feel great.
NARRATOR:
and live calmer lives
by doing five simple things.
We do too much,
and then complain that our lives are too hectic.
But what registers as anxiety
is often the mind's plea
not to be continuously overstimulated.
We all need to accept that we can't do it all.
We need proper sleep,
at least seven hours every night.
News organizations speak of our need to know.
But often we have a greater need not to know.
There's nothing we can do about the exploits,
disasters and triumphs of strangers we'll never meet.
We need to switch off and concentrate
on things closer to home that we can affect.
Anxiety's the mind's revenge
for all the thoughts we try to suppress.
We need to allocate time where we have nothing to do,
other than sift through the chaotic contents of our minds.
Every hour of living
requires at least ten minutes of sifting.
It would be nice to be rich, famous and successful.
But it might be wiser to recognize
that a truly satisfying life
can be had living modestly
and far away from the maniac competition
to win the professional status race.
EMILIO:
And that is a thing that we love to do.
IVAN:
I wanna say to you guys
-that you guys are not alone. -Yeah.
IVAN:
and you can handle it and you can change it.
There's a new future on us.
-We're gonna go out, we're gonna have fun.
And we're not gonna worry about worrying,
which is really important.
Hey, guys.
If you like this episode...
EMILIO:
to watch all the cool episodes.
-Right now. -Go right now.
-Yes go right now! -Right now!
Whoo!
-Right now. -[BOTH CHUCKLING]