Amy: Hi I'm Amy Melanie: Hi I'm Melanie
Amy: And today we're talking about anxiety and how best to manage it
Amy: So Melanie, you've been quite open about the fact that you've experienced anxiety
Melanie: The first time I had a panic attack I didn't actually know what was happening.
I was about 19 I think, so it started for me quite late in life. I felt like I was drowning
almost, it's like my heart rate sped up and I felt really dizzy and you're kind of trapped
in your body in the moment and if no one else around you knows what's going on it's a very
very scary thing. Amy: Good point there as well about not realising
it was a panic attack. That's really common for people when they start experiencing them
Melanie: And that's the worst part about it, that's where the fear comes from I think.
Once you know what's happening to you it's so much easier to manage it because you can
kind of challenge your mind then and say okay, why am I having the panic attack? What are
the triggers? It was just a bit lonely and isolating for a while until I started talking
and getting help for it. Most people do deal with mental health problems at some point
in their life and I think we're all taught growing up to bottle it, and not open up about
it and that's so silly because I think if we all talked about it we'd suffer through
it so much less. Amy: I think we'd encourage anyone who's feeling
like this that you can talk to someone, whether that's a friend or trusted adult or even a
ChildLine councellor. Anxiety is normal - it used to be a survival instinct for us. We'd
see a saber toothed tiger and then we'd get adrenaline pumping through our bodies so we
could fight it off. We still get anxious nowadays, we still have this instinct in us but it gets
triggered by things like seeing someone you fancy or going into an exam or anything like
that. Melanie: No saber tooth tigers around anymore
Amy: So when you're anxious things like your heart rate will start to increase, so that
you're getting more oxygen in your muscles... Melanie: Your mind becomes really alert. It
can make you over analyse everything so when it would happen to me I would kind of over
analyse every other pain in my body. You become hyper-aware of absolutely everything.
Amy: You get dizzy because all of your oxygen has gone to your muscles rather than your
brain. Melanie: I'd have to lie down. My dad would
have to be standing there talking to me. I'd have to have a certain classical music playing.
I'd have to have lavender drops, and all these things in place. It's an actual physical symptom,
it's not just in your head. Your body actually does react. It's important for people to know
that that's okay, that they're not dying, it's just a temporary kind of natural reaction.
Amy: And there's actually quite a few things you can do in order to help you cope with
the mental and physical symptoms. So you said then about lying down and classical music.
Listening to music is a really good one. Melanie: Not so much having a panic attack
but just a feeling of anxiety, so I'm kind of just tense and on edge. So what I'll do
then is I'll go for a power walk with my headphones on and I know what kind of music to listen
to that will kind of bring me back down and even things like journaling and keeping a
diary and writing everything down just gets it all out of your head. It helps you to put
things into perspective. Amy: Because you're feeling really tense when
you're anxious relaxation techniques can really help.
Melanie: So much Amy: Things like meditation or breathing techniques.
Are there any breathing techniques you particularly like?
Melanie: What I'll do is I'll stop and I'll breathe in for like 4 beats in through my
nostrils from my stomach, so you start the breath there and then push it out.
Amy: So talk me through it - breathe in four... Melanie: It seems silly, it does seem silly,
but doing that on your own, just go into a bathroom cubicle, into your bedroom, wherever
you need to go. For me meditation is more so just like zoning out and I find it easier
to meditate with music and stuff just to clear my mind.
Amy: So what about distraction techniques? Melanie: Reading was a big one, and I did
read a book about mindfulness and that's very much about being present in the moment. A
wealth of knowledge out there in books just about how to deal with it, because most of
us don't and if we're prone to anxiety we're often worrying and we're living in the future
but just zoning all of that out and just focusing on touching a soft pillow or something like
that just realising that right this moment is all I have, the past is gone, the future
hasn't happened, this is it. It's very empowering knowing that you kind of can cut it off in
a really bad moment. I've become very sociable since I started doing things to manage the
anxiety and it's funny that you really can live with it. It's not something that's going
to ruin your life. Amy: I think that's a really amazing and empowering
point. People don't have to feel trapped by their anxiety, you can live a great life.
So now we want to hear from you. What kind of techniques do you guys use to manage your
anxiety? Let us know in the comments, and don't forget there is loads of information
around anxiety and how to manage it on the ChildLine website. Links in the description.
Melanie, thank you so much Melanie: Thank you for having me
Amy: No problem, it's been a delight. And we will see you next time.
Both: Bye