Everyone has anxiety so why don't we talk about it more?
Sharing your worries is good for everyone
Today I’ve been to The Now Building in London’s Tottenham Court Road where an audiovisual display is being shown on massive jumbo screens in order to convey the feeling of anxiety to passers by. Blimey.
As someone pretty familiar with the tribulations of anxiety, you might wonder why I put myself through the experience. I wondered the same thing. But it has been put together by the charities Adot and The Campaign Against Living Miserably to raise awareness and understanding of the condition. So I thought I’d check it out and just hope for the best that it didn’t send me barmy.
Thankfully, it didn’t. It was actually pretty amazing. The installation is called Monoloith and consists of millions of tiny, brightly coloured particles of light. As people walk through the building, the screens react in real-time and the particles become more volatile. The colours change, the movement gets faster and it all gets a bit overwhelming. Just like anxiety. If you’re in central London this week it is well worth going for a look.
Everyone lives with anxiety to one degree or another. Life is fast, intense and full of relentless assaults on our senses. Worry, fear and insecurity are everywhere, stoked inside all of us by social media and twenty four hour news. Plus, there’s a cost of living crisis. No wonder we’re all shitting ourselves half the time.
The best thing we can all do is be a bit more open about our worries. Not just because sharing always alleviates the stress but also because it makes others around you feel less alone.
When I tell people that I’ve been anxious or miserable it sends a signal to them that I’m the sort of person they can turn to when they need a sympathetic ear. They won’t be judged and they will be understood. From my own experience, that’s all you need sometimes. Someone who listens patiently, without cynicism or judgment, can make you feel understood and less alone. There’s a lot of shame in feeling scared. But by showing each other we are all suffering from the same feelings, we can diffuse that sense of shame.
You don’t have to make a massive deal out of it. Just be honest about the way you feel. Chuck it into conversation in a casual way. Normalise anxiety. It’s just part of being human, after all.
Get more info and help on anxiety here
Tomorrow morning, BBC 6 Music
Tomorrow morning I will be on the early breakfast show on the world’s greatest radio station, 6 Music. The wonderful Chris Hawkins invited me on to talk about my book and my experiences of addiction, anxiety and recovery. I was really pleased with how the chat went when we pre-recorded it a couple of weeks back. If you miss it in the morning (at about 6.45am) you will be able to listen back to it on BBC Sounds.
Some services, links and phone numbers to help you through the tough times
https://www.samaritans.org/ Tel 116 123
https://www.thecalmzone.net
@YoungMindsUK 0800 018 2138
@CharitySane 0300 304 7000
https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/
https://cocaineanonymous.org.uk/
https://andysmanclub.co.uk/
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/gambling-addiction/
When I read the title I thought “everyone is talking about” and then what hit me was what you said about how you opening up invites others into a safe place to open up and the reason I feel like everyone has been talking about depression and anxiety forever is because I myself have been open about it for so long. Despite knowing better, I forget that there is still stigma and that talking about it isn’t just something I do but something that continues to be important to do. ❤️❤️
Some really useful links to further help on here 👍