Celebrity victims highlight growing problem of anxiety

According to the British charity YouthNet, a third of young women and one in 10 young men suffer from anxiety attacks.

Singer Zayn Malik. Getty Images

When Zayn Malik cancelled his Dubai gig last week, he blamed crippling anxiety attacks which the singer said left him feeling unable to face an audience.

The former One Direction singer, who was scheduled to perform at the Autism Rocks Arena on October 7, released a heartfelt message to his fans in which he said: “I have been working over the last three months to overcome my extreme anxiety around major live solo performances ... I feel I am making progress, but I have today acknowledged that I do not feel sufficiently confident to move forward with the planned show in Dubai in October … I am truly sorry to disappoint you.”

A week before Malik’s announcement, Selena Gomez announced that she, too, was cancelling an upcoming Dubai gig, which was scheduled for November, citing anxiety and panic attacks brought on by lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that occurs when the body’s overactive immune system attacks healthy tissues and organs.

“As many of you know, around a year ago I revealed that I have lupus, an illness that can affect people in different ways,” Gomez told her fans at the time. “I’ve discovered that anxiety, panic attacks and depression can be side effects of lupus, which can present their own challenges.”

Malik and Gomez are not alone in their angst. Other celebrity sufferers include singer Ellie Golding, actresses Emma Stone and Amanda Seyfried, and recent reports suggest that anxiety attacks among young people is growing.

According to the British charity YouthNet, a third of young women and one in 10 young men suffer from such attacks. Studies in America show a similar trend: a 2013 survey reported that 57 per cent of female university students had experienced episodes of “overwhelming anxiety” in the previous 12 months.

Whether it is brought on by social anxieties such as the Fear of Missing Out, commonly known as FOMO, which is driven by social media, pressures to be thin, relationship breakdowns, or fear of global catastrophes such as climate change or terrorism, one thing is for certain – you don’t have to be a celebrity for life’s stresses to overwhelm you.

Zeta Yarwood, a life coach in Dubai, says anxiety attacks are the mind and body’s response to a perceived threat and the activation of the fight or flight response.

“Anything that an individual perceives as either physically or psychologically threatening could trigger an anxiety attack – even if there is no real threat present,” she says.

Anyone suffering from anxiety will have their own triggers, but they all have an underlying theme – “most likely a fear of not being in control, failure, public ridicule, or death.” She says that in Malik’s case, anxiety attacks are likely the result of extreme stage fright.

Former Dubai One TV’s Emirates News anchor Hermoine Macura can relate to Malik’s performance-related nerves, but the Australian has found her own ways to stay calm before facing the camera lens.

“I find deep breathing and drinking ice-cold water help me to stay on point and focused,” she says. “If I have the time, I also will walk round, pray or dance to help me remind myself that it will pass.”

Macura also uses specialised voice techniques that involve saying words and sounds aloud, things such as ‘Whoooooosh’.

“They help to relax your vocal cords, clear tension from your upper body, your mind and lungs so you’re ready to speak clearly and coherently without hesitation,” she says.