Zoe Colville was a hairdresser in Soho until she gave it all up to protect her mental health. Moving to the countryside, she and her partner Kriss started farming their own flock of sheep. Following the death of her father, she got therapy to deal with extreme anxiety and panic attacks. “There wasn’t a minute […]
Videos
Related content
From Soho to sheep farming, Zoe Colville
Rapper, musician and mental health campaigner, Nick Brewer
Rapper and musician Nick Brewer has suffered anxiety since childhood. He found a lot of peace in reading, as well as being able to escape from his worries. When his father gave him a rap CD, it connected with him, and how he could tell his own story and make sense of his thoughts. “Writing […]
Irish actor turned NLP coach, Michael Legge
Actor Michael Legge first realised that the noise in his head wasn’t ‘normal’ when he suffered a prolonged panic attack on a flight. “I realised I needed to find out who I was because there was clearly stuff in my head that needed sorting out.” Seeing a NLP practitioner helped him start to be able […]
Journalist and Author of The Shift, Sam Baker
Journalist and author Sam Baker noticed an escalation in her anxiety, crashes in self-confidence, and depression in her 40s. “I felt like I had lost sight of myself.” When she was researching her book, The Shift, she realised those feelings weren’t uncommon in women – and they weren’t being discussed. Midway through HRT, she was […]
Don’t run away from panic, Joshua Fletcher
After suffering from anxiety, culminating in a full-blown panic attack at work, Joshua Fletcher studied how he could effectively treat himself. His best advice was “stop trying to fix yourself” which was genuinely liberating. He qualified as a psychotherapist and founded The Panic Room. Josh encourages people just to experience their panic. He says the […]
Music, mental health and me, Jack Williamson
After his brother took his own life, music executive Jack Williamson started to question his purpose and his drive. Artist management was taking its toll on his mental health, and he realised there was a need in the music industry to provide early onset mental health support. Since then, Music and You, which Jack founded […]
Former ‘Bake Off’ Celebrity & Influencer, Michael Chakraverty
The Great British Bake Off star came to national prominence when he experienced a panic attack on television after his choux pastry went wrong. Michael had been learning in therapy that he should try new things; during the show, he found his brain telling him ‘you aren’t as good as you thought you were.’ Michael […]
Journalist & Mental Health Author, Rachel Kelly
Journalist Rachel Kelly was working in a stressful job when she had her first serious attack of anxiety and depression which put her in hospital; later, her second episode lasted for two years. Rachel found that her love of words and poetry helped her recovery. She built up from reciting one line at a time […]
Irish Musician & Rugby International, Niall Breslin
Niall Breslin has been both a professional rugby player and a musician, fronting the band The Blizzards. He went through anxiety and depression when he was injured in his sport. He finds athletes are prone to ‘struggling with their heads’. Niall decided to talk in public about his mental health after experiencing a panic attack […]
Depression Survivor & Diversity Champion, Hayley Mulenda
Hayley Mulenda is a student and public speaker, and the author of The ABCs to Student Success. When she started university, while she was public speaking and running a business at the same time, she found herself overwhelmed with stress and depression. With the help of family and friends she overcame suicidal thoughts. Hayley says […]
Life after, life with, Alice Liveing
Alice Liveing is a personal trainer, author and wellbeing influencer. She experienced depression and anxiety after several years of suppressing memories of an abusive relationship, and went through panic attacks and night terrors. Now, Alice says, she knows that she can get back up and come through those feelings. Alice tells us that it took […]
Falling down the rabbit hole, Claire Eastham
Claire Eastham is a mental health blogger who writes about her experiences of social anxiety and panic disorder. Although she had experienced social anxiety as a child, it wasn’t until Claire had a breakdown at 24 that she was diagnosed. Since then, she has tried many methods to deal with her conditions including medication, therapies and exercise. Dogs and humour help too!