Nadiya: Anxiety and Me

Antonia_Alumni

Nadiya Hussain will be sharing her experiences with anxiety and panic attacks, in a one off documentary on BBC One tonight. The TV chef, author and TV presenter was introduced to us on the Great British Bake Off in 2015. The documentary will show Nadiya in therapy to find out the cause of her anxiety and exploring other treatments.

According to MIND: "In England, 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (such as anxiety and depression) in any given week."



In an interview with Stylist, Nadiya opened about living with anxiety and deliberating panic attacks. 

"People say, “What have you got to be anxious about?” It’s not about that, it could be tiny things like putting the laundry basket away that’ll wake me up in the night. If I don’t get up and do it immediately, that’ll bubble up and sit there." You can read more of her interview on Stylist's Website. 

Nadiya: Anxiety and Me will be on at 9pm tonight on BBC One.

Do you have anxiety and panic attacks, if so has therapy been helpful? Please share your experiences below.

Chloe_Scope

I'll make sure to watch this!

Antonia_Alumni

Awesome @Chloe_Scope  

Adrian_Scope

I found this really interesting and really helped shine a light on anxiety as being something more than just being a bit nervous about something, which is so often how people seem to interpret it.
Definitely enjoyed this series.

[Deleted User]

Anxiety is a terrible thing to suffer from tbh, it affects me on a daily basis. I'm glad there's been a program made about it, I didn't see it myself as I don't watch TV but I hope it's raised awareness and helped people understand anxiety a bit better.

Chloe_Scope

I'm sure it did raise awareness @WF2k it's great to see it being spoken in the media. Hope you are having a good day today.

[Deleted User]

Yeah it is and no not really but thank you

Antonia_Alumni

Hi @Adrian_Scope thanks for sharing this. Yes, I found it interesting too. It was insightful to know that some coping exercises can make things worse and exploring other options is vital.

Antonia_Alumni

Hi @WF2k I'm sorry to hear you're not having a good day. We are here if you need to have a chat or have a question. Yes, it's good to see these programmes about anxiety and get an insight to how it feels to have it. Especially for someone who is in the public eye.

[Deleted User]

Hi @Antonia_Scope thank you very much.

I do believe that if more people who are in the public eye spoke out about mental illnesses that there would be a better understanding of it and less stigma and maybe more help, people like Frank Bruno (who I adore!), Corey Taylor, Talinda Bennington etc. are people that I admire and am grateful to for sharing their experiences with mental illnesses. 

I shall shut up now lol.

Antonia_Alumni

Hi @WF2k No problem I agree, I think it does lessen the stigma, I watched David Harewood's documentary too. You just never know what people are going through or have been through. 

No, you do not need to..lol! You're not the only one, I hardly watch TV unless they're specific shows, that interests me. Which I watch online anyway. What are your interests/hobbies?

[Deleted User]

There are so many people with mental health problems now, I really don't think the UK in particular has enough care or money put into mental health problems. I've personally been fighting mine since the 90's, I believe I had them before due to abuse and that having my Son triggered it and then my Dad passing away in 2008 made it worse, I've tried so many different meds, counselling, CBT which I was referred to by a psychiatrist, none of it has helped, sadly.

I used to have different hobbies but I don't feel like or can't do some of them now, these days I'm really into my animals, any animals, I adore them, I used to adopt guinea's and other little rodents, I like music and I sometimes play games on the console or pc when my brain and body allows it lol. I do like reality crime, I tend to watch a bit on Amazon and I'm a bit of a music fan as well.

What about you, what sort of things do you like?

Antonia_Alumni

Hi @WF2k thanks for your reply. Yes, it has become very common now. It has been a long time coming for needed support in the mental health sector, I am hoping more funds and support will be available.

I am sorry to hear this, thank you for sharing this. A lot of life events can trigger our mental health. Glad you tried all the options offered and sorry they did not help.

Aw that's nice, guinea's are cute. @Ami2301 has 2 of them. I'm trying to like animals, I will literally run if I see a fly. A friend just got a puppy she's so excited. I understand, it's better to do what you can. I love music too; Jazz, R&B etc.

I like to draw/sketch, I haven't done any these days but hoping to soon. I also love to bake, love the smell of fresh baked cakes... and eating it of course

Ami2301

My fur babies, Loki & Thor ❤

[Deleted User]

@Antonia_Scope My Mum likes to baked, I'm into a wide range of music from Grime to Metal.

@Ami2301 I've adopted a lot of guinea's since 2014, problem is, they are so delicate and the vets we have where I live aren't very good, we lost several of them because vets were taking guesses at what was wrong or just not treating them correctly. We've had 12 guinea's in total, all but one has been adopted, we only have two left now. I've also got three gerbils and a dog.

Ami2301

I'm sorry to hear that @WF2k I have 2 dogs too, rehomed them from PACT ?

[Deleted User]

Thanks @Ami2301  my dog was from a woman who saved her from some kill shelter in Romania, she tried to rehabilitate her, she had her for 9 months along with her other dogs but she was still very anxious when she came here in August last year, she's bonded with me fine but is quite weary of my Son, she's getting there slowly but surely though

Ami2301

Poor girl sounds like she has a loving home now Our first dog Millie, she was a doberman mix labrador, we had her since she was 10 weeks old, sadly we found out she had been abused by a member in the household and from that point she was extremely wary of men.

It was heartbreaking watching her go from a bouncy lively pup to a cautious girl who flinched everytime someone lifted their hand up.

She was put to sleep on her birthday in 2016, she had kidney failure and it had gone too far. I've never known heartbreak like that moment, but me and my mum were there with her til the end, we both cuddled her the whole time and we kept telling her that we loved her so much so she knew  that 'I love you' were the last words said to her. She died in our arms.

She meant the world to me and still does. 2 and a half years later, it still gets to me. 

[Deleted User]

We had a dog before Suzie (she's a golden lab), Calam, he was a Blue Merle Collie, he was part of our family for over 15 years, he was almost 16 when he went to rainbow bridge, he'd been going to the PDSA on and off for years with his back legs but I wasn't happy with what they kept saying and his legs started to get worse and he was peeing himself which he only did when he had anxiety but this was full on peeing, on the last day his legs were really bad, so we took him off to see the local vet, she examined him, low and behold he had different issues as well as the arthritis which had probably causes spondylitis, he also had kidney problems, a problem with his throat and I think she said his lung (I don't have the best of memories) she said if he was her dog she would do the right thing and as I'm not one for keeping animals alive just to make me feel better or stop me from being upset which I've seen some people do, we agreed, he's been gone just over a year now and it's been pretty hard work because Calam wasn't just a pet, he was part of the family, just the same as the rest of our furry one's have been, he also stopped me from choking a few times and tried to look after me when I was pretty low. Dog are amazing animals and if you treat them right, they will do likewise with us.

Ami2301

Calam sounds like he was amazing, bless his soul. Dogs really are special. Millie was like my little sister, I always tried to protect her and when I was made aware that she was abused, I felt like I let her down. We didn't live in the best of households. Whenever there were arguments or shouting, we would curl up together, shaking. 

I know what you mean, when mum signed the form for Millie to be put to sleep, I just wanted to rip it up. The sudden realisation that I was going to lose her hit me hard but i knew deep down that letting her go was the right thing to do.

I don't think I could ever live without a dog now!