Thread by @Telegraph

‘Anxiety robbed me of my sleep – and by 32, my life was a car crash’.

One woman’s all-consuming anxiety and her search for a cure. 👇

Thread 🧵
telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness…

🏥 In 2019, the day before her 32nd birthday, India Sturgis became one of the 10 per cent of British people who suffer from a kind of disabling anxiety disorder

“Stress and anxiety had percolated, fed off each other and imploded in a sort of slow-motion car crash over at least seven years”

🛏️ India had developed chronic insomnia, a phobia of going to bed - ‘clinophobia’, PTSD and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)

GAD is a long-term condition that causes you to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues.

💭 It’s characterised by at least six months of persistent, excessive and unrealistic worry about everyday things

“Outwardly, it didn’t add up,” says India “I enjoyed life. What happened?”.

“Trying to sleep, no matter what I did, or thought, something primordial was flashing through my body, silently screaming”

💤 “A bed advert reduced me to tears”.

A phobia of going to bed and not sleeping began seeping into everything India did…

After a particularly bad night, she told her husband about her most intrusive thoughts.

The next day, she was referred to London’s oldest private psychiatric hospital - the Priory in Roehampton

🧪 “It is not an exact science, and everyone’s different - another reason why it’s so hard to make sense of or recognise".

"We know what to do when someone breaks a leg... but not how to help if they have a mental health issue"

Have you ever suffered with anxiety?

Read India’s story in full here ⬇️
telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness…