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Tag: coping with anxiety

  • Veep's Tony Hale Talks Anxiety

    Veep's Tony Hale Talks Anxiety

    “I don’t think people understand managing it. It’s a daily choice. It really is,” Hale said in a recent interview.

    As both Arrested Development and Veep come to an end, actor Tony Hale’s next plans include a book (and soon-to-be Netflix show) about a chicken named Archibald, with a wider message about the importance of being present. 

    “You have to be present,” Hale recently told GQ. “Everything is a big thing. Me talking to you right now: this is my big thing. It’s not somewhere else. And this whole idea of, if you’re not practicing contentment where you are, you’re not going to be content when you get what you want.”

    The idea of being present, Hale says, is a constant work in progress for him as well, as he has long struggled with anxiety. 

    “This therapist I worked with talked about how you have to wake yourself up 100 times a day to where you are,” Hale told GQ. “And in creating stories for Archibald it’s been good practice, and it’s an absolute joy.”

    Working on being present, like Archibald, is one of the strongest tools for Hale personally when it comes to managing anxiety.

    “My default is to be checked out somewhere,” he tells GQ. “My default is to be living in some reality that hasn’t even happened.”

    He has to remember that being an actor also comes into play when it comes to his anxiety, Hale says.

    “As an actor you are a very emotional being,” he said. “And because of that, you kind of give a lot of power to emotions or thoughts, and you sometimes become a victim to that. I try to be like, ‘Oh, there’s that thought. There’s that emotion.’ As if I’m watching cars on a highway.”

    Like many people who battle anxiety, Hale has also had experience with panic attacks. He discusses one instance in particular that stands out: early in his career, he was about to be on a talk show and says he had yet to feel like he belonged there. So, to manage his anxiety, he shifted his focus to someone other than himself. 

    “There were these two guys who were pulling the curtain. I just started asking them questions…and then they pulled the curtain and I went out. It might only have been a few seconds, but it saved everything.,” Hale recalled. 

    Now, Hale just focuses on the day-to-day and acknowledges that anxiety is something that has to be managed. He says he talks about it so often because of the role it plays in his life daily. 

    “I don’t think people understand managing it,” he said. “It’s a daily choice. It really is.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Baking Becomes Growing Outlet For Anxiety

    Baking Becomes Growing Outlet For Anxiety

    Some therapists are even prescribing baking for their patients struggling with anxiety.

    For Kelly Caiazzo, relief from her anxiety comes from an unexpected place: cooking and baking. 

    Caiazzo, 35, told The Portland Press Herald that the constant flow of negative news contributes to her anxiety. 

    “Even when I’m trying to take a rest day and take a deep breath, I’m still getting it because of social media,” she said. “It’s one headline after another about things that are going to make our country less safe from an environmental perspective.”

    So, in such instances, Caiazzo turns to prepping food. And she isn’t alone. In December, The Atlantic ran a piece about millennials turning to baking to decrease stress and anxiety. And, according to the American Psychiatric Association, stress levels are only increasing as 40% of Americans reported feeling more anxious in 2018 than the previous year. 

    It seems people are seeking out comfort foods as well, according to the Press Herald. Pete Leavitt, owner of Leavitt & Sons delis in Portland and Falmouth, said sales of his chicken potpie have skyrocketed in the last year with more than a double-digit increase. Ali Waks-Adams, executive chef at the Brunswick Inn, told the Press Herald the same can be said for their tapioca pudding. 

    Another increase has been seen in the number of people applying for jobs in the food industry, especially people with no prior culinary experience. Stacy Begin, owner of the Two Fat Cats bakeries, told the Press Herald that many “describe baking as a ‘release,’” in their resumes.

    Andrea Swanson, owner of Portland’s Scattoloni Bakery, said she has had an overwhelming increase in enrollment in her baking classes in recent years.  

    “Most of them want to do it as a hobby,” Swanson told the Press Herald, “but a lot of them, especially the bread ones, they’re into it as something to do at home to kind of decompress. They’ve tried bread machines, and it’s not the same thing.”

    Some therapists, such as Hannah Curtis of Falmouth, are even prescribing baking for their patients struggling with anxiety.

    “In baking, there are still rules we can count on,” she said. “If I do it right, and I do it in the right order, I’m going to get the right result.”

    Kathy Gunst, a South Berwick food writer and cookbook author, told the Press Herald she found comfort in baking during the hearings for Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh. 

    “People would come into my house and say ‘What is going on here?’” Gunst stated. “And I would say ‘I’m trying to stay sane. That’s what’s going on here.’” 

    For Caiazzo, the urge to cook and bake also gives her a greater sense of control. 

    “Even though I can’t control the world at large, I can have a major impact on taking responsibility for my own personal impact and actions,” she said.

    View the original article at thefix.com