Susannah Constantine Reveals She Would Pray for a Car Crash to End Her Anxiety | This Morning

guests has spent her entire life encouraging women to be confident but behind the scenes Susannah Constantine was hiding a secret for almost 30 years Suzanne has been battling crippling anxiety and she's here now to talk about that firstly thank you for talking about it because every time we do talk about depression anxiety it really helps people because people feel very alone did you feel alone yes and I think that also I felt that you know who might feel like this I'm so lucky I've got a family I've got a roof over my head I've got a husband who loves me I've got three gorgeous children and I have a great career what have I got to be anxious about and in a way that almost made it worse because I was trying to put a tag on it and I couldn't find a reason to identify it for instance are you anxious this morning yeah I woke up with that snowball in my stomach which is slowly starting to melt so kind of usually by about 11:00 12:00 is gone and I make a mess it's interesting that you described that and I think a lot of people will identify this this is often rind you're what's called your solar plexus and they top of your tummy bottom of your ribcage do you ever have treatments do you ever have I mean do you think you can physically say massage that away well I think you feel that you could do that because it does it is like a physical feeling but no for me I don't think that's the case at all when when would you say anxiety you were aware of and of being anxious in your life does it go way back to the childhood yeah way back I mean I you know I'd wake up as a child every morning was sort of drenched in sweat and that came from looking back now and this is something I only realised very recently that my mother was manic-depressive and I guess I'd wake up every morning wondering how she it scared of how she was going to be that day so there was that feeling of uncertainty and abandoned am I going to be abandoned to her illness that day so I guess it stems from that and in boarding school and then boarding school I hated and I had terrible anxiety never slept but I didn't know it anxiety then I just thought it was homesickness nobody talked about it and then also a Susanna saying she's find it very hard what do you talk about what is making you anxious she can't pin it down one of the things I think as well is anxiousness is contagious so there was your mother she was feeling it you feel it as well roosters are quite an anxious person I never used to feel it and I could I would pick it up from you and in certain about something and then this crippling anxiety I mean how bad did it get for you in terms of you know on the surfaces you said very you know successful television career doing those amazing programs with really encouraging women to be confident and yet you weren't feeling it so how did you hide it how did you guess up every day what and go and do that I don't think I've ever been crippled back by anxiety but there was certainly a period in my life where I'd wake up in the morning and I'd let us say take the children to school and I would pray that my car would be driven into by lorry or something really so that I could put an end to it all and but it was just you know it was it was a sort that flashed through my mind so I wouldn't say I was I've ever been crippled and the way not crippled but you wanted to end your life but well I say that you know that sounds over that that is overdramatic it was just if it's how you felt yeah but it was it was a it was just a flash it was a at that moment something something take the pain away and then it would go did you talk to anybody you know your your children your husband a counselor no just his I just you I have to kept it in all my life because it's for me it was a very personal thing and and almost not serious enough because you were able to function yeah because I was able to function and and so I started doing things for myself and you know I realized that when I was you know when I was drinking alcohol if I had a hangover the next day it would make it so much worse so I stopped drinking five years ago I now eat really healthy I've taken steps to help myself I hadn't really seek professional help as such because I think it's got to come from I believe it's got to come from within you so when you wake up in the morning as you did this morning with the snowball the tight snowball and you know what the day ahead is going to be for you what do you do at that moment I look at it as a haunting and I look at it is this this come the ghosts of anxiety it has come to visit me and it's going to pass so intellectually I know that's the case I know it's going to pass it's not going to stay with me I every morning I wake up and lists all the things I have to be grateful for in my head goes you know is very a very long thing very long list that I have of things to be grateful for and I use it as a motivator now but isn't part of your problem Susanna that you are such a high achiever and maybe you can't see that the things that you've done the things that you've achieved the businesses you've set up TV career in America you know a writer a broadcaster a fashion designer whatever you may not see that as being extraordinary but with that comes extraordinary pressure perhaps I don't see that you know it's it's interesting you say I really don't know it's like I will I will do something so you know I wrote my first novel it's done that's in the past I'm already looking towards the next thing and I you're right I think that we're all similar in that way you know people who suffer anxiety the people I know who who suffer from anxiety are highly highly achieving individuals and I think it it's you can use it to your advantage to push you these people might be interested it's strictly for example yeah you think well if you're an anxious person who suffer with anxiety I don't know why I did that I mean it was without question the most frightening thing I've ever done do you feel you need to always push yourself to say I won't let anxiety yes I do you're exactly right it's like you want to give to I want to give two fingers to it and say you know it's kind of like smothering it trying to smother it with activity and that actually isn't a good thing to do you need to you know I've learned to sit with myself to sit with my anxiety and and just listen to it and not try and fight it and I think you know again that's how it you know yeah accept it so it's haunting it's my goat the anxiety ghost and it will pass could I just say in all sincerity the anxiety both have you felt in strictly Shirley was nothing compared to what Anton and I think we see so sorry for that excuse me your your wife did extremely well what he looked at my wife and then he saw you two years in a row her guy we love so you know when you talk about high achievers rid of it I think that demonstrates this way maybe you end up cleaning your house from top to bottom and you have great expectations on your selves it's a fascinating subject and you say you never sought professional help sasame thank you very much today thank you make a point of bumping into her in the car I will and I just want to say that you know there's lifestyle anxiety you know there are people who are really struggling yes and that's very different to what it's everybody the truth is neither Tube You Can Dance talk about anxiety she would start with her first night on and it said and I please welcome to the floor Anton tobacconist on support of Ruth Langsford doing the light from dying or whatever it was and I looked up at her and she was like this she was blowing as if it was in an air bag so so I thought to myself I looked at my son Alec Molly can't tell your viewers what I said - Bassam but basically men were going nowhere with us but anyway nowhere went on thank you for your sympathy you

Channel: This Morning

Views: 74,144

Keywords: this morning, holly willoughby, phillip schofield, this morning funniest, Holly & Phillip funny, susannah constantine interview, susannah constantine anxiety, anxiety attack, health and wellness

Id: 917KJJFeiyA

Length: 8min 57sec (537 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 31 2019