Zoella bravely opens up about facing down anxiety
YouTube sensation Zoe Sugg, who goes by Zoella over on her channel, has a life than anyone would envy. Her first book broke world records, her beauty line is a hit among teens, and she just landed the cover of Seventeen Magazine with BFF Tyler Oakley. So when she talks about her issues with anxiety, she admits to Seventeen that people can find it hard to believe:
This is not the first time Zoe has spoken about her anxiety. She made her first video on the topic back in 2012. In it she explains that since the age of 14, she’s suffered from panic attacks and anxiety—and the fallout that comes with it.
“Something people don’t seem to realize is that self esteem is seriously dented from suffering these attacks,”she wrote in an accompanying blog post. “I still, to this day, think that people judge me, and that they possibly all talk about how weird I am, or how annoying I am for having panic attacks, or even that they may think you make it up, or are using as an excuse. You start to think that you are ruining everyone else’s life around you & have become a nuisance.”
While YouTube was a good escape from these feelings, it also brought its own unique kind of stress. As she tells Seventeen in her recent interview:
She’s found ways to cope with this feeling. A year after posting her first video about anxiety, she posted another called “Just Say Yes.” It’s all about her method of living her best life by not shying away from opportunities. “The only way to get out of that horrible box of badness is to push yourself to do more things,” she explains. But, she recognizes, it’s not always easy. “There have been times when I said ‘yes’ and had a major freakout, but at least I tried.”
We totally appreciate Zoe’s honesty and bravery in opening up about the struggles of anxiety. Sometimes it helps to know, in your darkest moments, that you’re not alone. That other people, even super-famous YouTube celebrities with millions of followers, deal with these issues too. And that it’s going to be OK.
(Image via YouTube)
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