Opening Up About My Anxiety

I (Coach Alex) have a confession to make. I love Ted Lasso - the goofy, charismatic head coach of AFC Richmond. If you haven’t subscribed to Apple+ yet (this is not an ad lol), you may not know that I’m talking about a fictional coach played by Jason Sudeikes. From the moment I watched the first episode, I told my husband, “I want to be Ted Lasso”. Realizing that I’ll never be that good at wordplay and I don’t have the innate ability to be cheerful in every moment, I knew my dreams were dashed. But once season two started, I found out that we had more in common than I thought. [SPOILER ALERT] Turns out Ted Lasso has panic attacks, brought on by anxiety. According to the Mayo Clinic “A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that triggers severe physical reactions when there is no real danger or apparent cause”. Anxiety lives with me on a daily basis and on occasion a panic attack comes up. Panic attacks can be brought on by the smallest things or by nothing. For example, in one episode Ted panics after glancing at a picture of his son, or in my case after hearing a song in the car on my way home from the gym. I’ve done a lot of work with a professional therapist to not let it take over my life but it still gets the best of me sometimes. While I haven’t tried to hide my anxiety (like Ted does briefly), I only share that part of me when I think it will help. Well, I’m sharing now, with all of you, because maybe it will help. I want you to know that if you’re experiencing anxiety, panic attacks, depression or any other type of mental health issue, that you are not alone and there is nothing to be ashamed of. I am here for you, we are here for you, waiting to listen and help in any way we can. Oh, and uh, do yourself a favor and watch Ted Lasso on repeat like a GIF of a cat and a dog giving each other a hug.