A Short Film About Anxiety

FADE IN:

Woman speaking to smartphone:

If I spoke to my anxiety I’d perhaps say, ‘Don’t leave me because you’re part of me, but maybe leave me a bit more of myself’.

CUT TO: Title

‘A Short Film About Anxiety’

CUT TO – Close-up footage of various people.

Different woman speaking in background, cuts to speaker talking into smartphone, mixed with footage of various people.

It’s hard to make people understand that that worry, that can sound you know, completely silly, is actually really scary.

CUT TO – Young man in bed speaking into smartphone. The remainder of the film consists of vignettes and filmed footage of people speaking into smartphones.

HUMAN 1

The discrepancy between how you see yourself and other people see you.

Wasteman.

Wasteman.

HUMAN 2

People often think that you’re being overly dramatic, they think that you’re, I dunno, joking, or that you’re selfish.

HUMAN 3

I do find it hard to talk about anxiety.

Yeah, because all you can really do is complain.

HUMAN 4

I think sometimes it can feel very isolated, and alone, despite being connected to like, hundreds of different people.

HUMAN 5

I think I remember all the way back to nursery, and not really knowing whether I had friends.

Weird.

HUMAN 6

Most of my anxiety really does bubble beneath the surface.

I talk too fast and my thoughts can become disordered.

Completely freezing up.

HUMAN 7

Panic attacks.

High heart rate, stress, so acute that I feel like I’m gonna have an aneurysm.

I become dizzy walking down the street, if someone made eye contact with me.

Feeling like I’m going to be sick.

Tremors.

HUMAN 6

And a few thoughts go on at the same time, so like maybe I’ll be thinking about how I look, and someone doesn’t like me.

I am a joke, everyone must be laughing at me.

All you want to do is just hide away.

HUMAN 4

Having an anxiety attack on the Northern Line, at half past eight on a Monday morning is really not a good look.

HUMAN 6

I think perhaps my anxiety means I have a lower tolerance for stressful or difficult situations.

And I’ll get emotional at work.

HUMAN 8

Drinking is really not good for my anxiety, in terms of physically making me feel anxious, and mentally making me question everything.

HUMAN 9

Social media definitely.

Sometimes I feel like if I’m just scrolling, scrolling…

You feel like you’re being watched or being judged.

HUMAN 6

As much as I really want to help people understand being anxious, I myself am trying to understand why I’m anxious.

HUMAN 9

It helps me when I try and relax, and try to chill, and to not worry about things, which in a couple of years you just won’t even care about, probably even in a couple of months you won’t care about.

Be kinder on yourself as well, to love yourself more.

HUMAN 6

I walk my dog, which structures my day, the good thing about my dog is that he kind of makes me interact, even when my whole being is like,

‘I’d rather not’.

You can’t dictate how things are gonna go, and that’s okay.

Talking about it takes the power out of it.

You know they’re old habits, they’re something that have arisen from past experiences, so I think they don’t need to be carried with you, every time you confront a new situation.

HUMAN 4

To fight your mind is literally the strongest battle that one could ever face, it’s tough at times but if you can get through each moment, you know, you’ve accomplished something that no one can ever take away.

If you feel like someone you know is struggling with anxiety, or someone is coming to you asking what they should do, my advice would be to be a good listener, and don’t try and trivialize the thoughts of somebody with anxiety.

Because, although they might sound silly, anxious thoughts feel very real.

It’s normal, and there are lots of services available.

Just talk to people and try different things, and find out what works.