“I had my first anxiety attack at night, waking me up from my sleep. It was an incredibly all-consuming feeling and I felt a sudden lack of control in my body. My heart was racing against my chest, I was sweating and I couldn’t breathe properly. I didn’t understand what was going on.”

Very few friends and family were aware of what Tania was going through at the time. Outwardly, she was a young, successful entrepreneur running a fast-growing international dance festival. But within a year of setting up her business, she was experiencing signs of burnout and depression, which later developed into anxiety attacks.

“It was incredibly scary. To start with, I didn’t understand the symptoms because I hadn’t experienced anything like it before,” she says. “The second time it happened I was out during the day in central London in a very crowded spot – probably one of the worst places you can be when an attack comes on. I was having a lovely day with my fiancé and there was no reason to feel anxious. Yet, in the background, I had so many things running through my mind and mounting pressures in my business which felt incredibly challenging. I started to realise my worries were manifesting in physical and psychological ways, and starting to disrupt my daily life.”

“I put pressure on myself to do things ‘perfectly’ and wanted to look like I ‘had it all together’. As the leader of a business, you put yourself in quite a vulnerable position”

Tweet / InShare

The attacks continued sporadically throughout the following year. As she opened up and talked about it more with close loved ones, she recognised the various symptoms of anxiety and learnt how to overcome these symptoms through having a support system, NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) coaching and finding a healthy business–life balance. This system also inspired her to become a trained Business NLP Practitioner, so she could provide quality coaching for others. It has taken a great deal of effort and commitment for Tania to get to where she is now, a position where she feels in control of managing her mental health and wellbeing, while empowering others to achieve the same.

A PROBLEM SHARED

Tania is far from alone. The World Health Organization estimates that mental health disorders account for the equivalent of more than 50 million years of work lost annually around the world, and more than $1 trillion a year is lost to the global economy in productivity. In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive calculates that during 2016/17 526,000 people suffered work-related stress, anxiety and depression (either new or long-standing) and the number of sick notes issued by GPs for stress-related conditions rose by 70,000 to 573,000 between 2015/16 and 2016/17. What led Tania to experience burnout? “I was working all the hours I could, which was incredibly unhealthy, and there was a strong lack of balance in my life. I didn’t create time and space to do other things I enjoy and to rest and recuperate,” she says.

“I put pressure on myself to do things ‘perfectly’ and wanted to look like I ‘had it all together’. As the leader of a business, you put yourself in quite a vulnerable position. I was so invested in every aspect of its development yet I wasn’t delegating effectively – therefore putting more pressure on my shoulders. My business was events-based, so I was organising and managing large teams of people, working with international artists and building new partnerships, as well as working with various suppliers. I think a lot of my personal struggles came down to my resilience and how I dealt with challenging situations. I’m sensitive to people’s feelings, which can be a real strength – but if you end up falling into a people-pleasing attitude in business, you can end up losing perspective and not protect your emotions enough. I learnt this the hard way, but at the same time, it taught me so much about myself and even highlighted other strengths that I didn’t know I had.”

CALMER NOW

These personal lessons did not go to waste. Realising just how prevalent the issue of mental health and wellbeing was, particularly among entrepreneurs, Tania found more clients coming to her for mentoring and opening up about having panic attacks and depression.

Tania says: “I noticed this was more common than I realised in the entrepreneur world, so I decided to do some more research. I conducted a survey for entrepreneurs in the UK and abroad to find out how business owners today were managing the demands of running a business. Of those who took part, the majority admitted to experiencing anxiety on their journey and felt overwhelmed; they also said they would like to seek support through events and programmes and they weren’t aware of another company dedicated to supporting the wellbeing of entrepreneurs. This is where I really saw a gap in the market to support and empower entrepreneurs to access their strengths and manage feelings of anxiety and overwhelm.”

This inspired Tania to form a new business, Calmer, a platform that supports entrepreneurs with managing their mental health and wellbeing while running a business. They offer mentoring programmes, workshops, and events in partnership with YADA Events, to encourage like-minded people to connect and build long-term supportive relationships. “We work with entrepreneurs and their teams to help them handle whatever comes their way with strength, knowledge and resilience, with their wellbeing at the heart of what they do. Reflecting on the three-step management model in my book, This Is Calmer, our training is centred on managing your wellbeing, your business and your relationships effectively, so you can thrive. To me, managing those three aspects have been crucial to my success today. I believe it’s about nurturing both your inner success and reaching personal milestones, as well as your outer success that everyone sees.”

It’s not just entrepreneurs who can find themselves overwhelmed by their work. Tania says many people in high-pressure roles, especially those that are target-driven, can find themselves struggling. For some, this pressure is only increased by the blurring of boundaries between work and home life. For those in the throes of work-related anxiety, Tania offers these simple suggestions: take a number of short breaks throughout the day, practise slow breathing exercises to help you connect to the moment and centre yourself, take time to do things you enjoy to lift your spirits and reach out to others when you need support.

“A key aspect of our training at Calmer is to normalise talking about any struggles you are going through. We help you navigate challenges you’re facing through exploring choice and different perspectives, empowering you to embrace your full potential,” says Tania.

For more advice on coping with stress and panic attacks, visit mind.org.uk.