Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I’M LEARNING TO LIVE WITH MY ANXIETY ATTACKS
The Fall star Niamh on her mental health battle
SITTING down at a restaurant with friends, actress Niamh Mcgrady needed to be near an exit.
At any moment, she feared a crippling panic attack could consume her. Niamh, 36, who starred in BBC drama The Fall, said: “It didn’t matter where I was, or what I was doing, it could happen any time.
“At its worst, just a couple of years ago, I was having as many as two or three panic attacks in a single day.
“It got to the point where I was even worried about feeling anxious so the whole thing spiralled.
“If I went out socially I did all sorts of strange things. At the cinema I had to sit at the aisle so I could run out if I had to. If I went for dinner I had to be near the door because knowing I could get away if I had a panic attack made me calmer.
“I could function completely, it was something I dealt with privately, on my own.”
Speaking out about her panic attacks during Mental Health Awareness week, she said: “They would manifest with a really sick feeling, I’d feel dizzy and nauseous.
“For a long time I thought I had vertigo and I’d turn up at A&E and my GP and they wouldn’t find anything.
“This was 15 years ago or more, so things were different but nobody could pin it down.”
SHATTERED
Niamh, who is from Castlewellan, Co Down, puts part of her anxiety down to growing up in Northern Ireland.
She said: “I know everyone feels used to it, like it’s no big deal. In 1994 there was a bomb that shattered every window in our house.
“I was excited because I was in the middle of all the drama. Even then, at 11, I was completely desensitised.” Niamh’s was diagnosed 15 years ago and although the attacks never disappeared completely – around two years ago – after landing roles in The Fall and medical drama Holby City – they came back “with a vengeance”.
Niamh said: “It was around the time I got engaged to my now-husband Dan. A time of big life decisions and felt pivotal and confusing. “I got a bit overwhelmed with everything. There are lots of people – especially women - who go through a bit of that in their 30s. “But the worst thing you can do when you’ve got anxiety is to ignore it. “You’ve just got to learn how to deal with it, and it will come and go and you’ll be fine.
“Help it along, run or meditate. Connect with animals – I’ve got my cat Carrot, who’s amazing. Eat well and sleep, do something you enjoy.”
Now Niamh is feeling great - but is ready to deal with anxiety.
She said: “I’m fantastically anxiety free. But who knows? Being in the public eye can make you feel exposed but nobody has it easy. No wonder we’re anxious.”