Fifteen years ago, while enjoying a relaxing day on an Australian beach, Izzy Judd was suddenly overcome by an intense wave of fear and breathlessness. Her then-boyfriend, Harry Judd – drummer for the popular band McFly – had just gone for a surf.
“Him leaving me on the beach sparked a panic attack. It just came over me like a tidal wave. It felt like an out-of-body experience,” she recalls.
Judd, a professional violinist and mother of three, is one of many individuals grappling with anxiety so severe it can significantly impact their daily lives. In England alone, the statistics paint a concerning picture. Last year, nearly 250,000 patients were referred for counselling due to generalised anxiety disorder, a notable increase from 190,000 just four years prior. This condition affects approximately 7.5% of adults in England, manifesting as persistent fear, an overwhelming sense of being swamped, and excessive worry about everyday matters.
Judd’s personal journey with anxiety stretches back to her childhood. Growing up in a musical household with three brothers in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, she experienced significant unease. “I dreaded bedtime because I didn’t want to be alone in my bedroom. My heart was racing and my legs would shake.”
The profound impact of anxiety intensified for Judd at the age of 12 when her eldest brother, Rupert, a talented French horn player and a star student at music school, suffered catastrophic brain injuries in a car accident. He remained in a coma for two months, with no discernible brain activity until his family brought his French horn to his bedside. It was then that he began to respond to the music. Rupert continues to require round-the-clock care and resides in a facility in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, designed for individuals with acquired brain injuries.
“I think the accident affirmed what I was always worried about, knowing life can just change in an instant and things aren’t always in your control,” Judd reflects. The trauma left her nervous system in a perpetual state of “fight or flight.” “You never quite feel safe again.” The sound of a car accident on the M11 would trigger immediate messages to her family, checking on their safety. Her vivid imagination would frequently “conjure up the worst eventualities.” She often felt her own struggles were insignificant compared to her brother’s ordeal, and she didn’t want to burden her parents further. “I remember not really saying how I was feeling. I probably should have had therapy as a teenager but they were dealing with enough and it wasn’t talked about as much back then,” she admits.
Given her personal history with anxiety, Judd’s decision to pursue a career in performance might seem counterintuitive. However, she asserts that she has never experienced fear while on stage. Following her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, she achieved international recognition touring with the all-female electric violin quartet Escala, after their successful run in the final of Britain’s Got Talent in 2008. “It is confusing because I’ve always been able to stand up and do that and go on stage, and things like public speaking have never worried me.” It was during her time performing in the strings section for McFly on tour that she met Harry, who has since become a steadfast source of reassurance. “One of my triggers for panic attacks was if I felt like I couldn’t get to him or call him,” she explains.
Becoming a mother to three children has prompted Judd to cultivate greater self-reliance. During a period when her son Kit was an infant and hospitalised with bronchiolitis, she experienced a severe panic attack. This challenging experience spurred her to explore mindfulness and meditation. Initially, she believed mindfulness meant “emptying your mind,” but she soon discovered it was more about acknowledging one’s thoughts and learning to “let them pass.”
“If I had learned more about breathwork when I was younger or how to properly breathe, it would have been a huge help,” she states emphatically. “It is the quickest way to calm the nervous system. I’d love to see it taught in schools.” Judd now shares these techniques with her own children, who sometimes experience anxiety at bedtime. She teaches them a specific breathing exercise, involving a shorter inhale and a longer exhale, to help them relax.
Understanding Panic Attacks
Panic attacks are an intense and often sudden response to anxiety, characterised by severe physical and mental symptoms. Typically lasting between five and 20 minutes, they are not inherently dangerous, though they can feel terrifyingly severe. Individuals may experience sensations akin to a heart attack or a fear of dying.
Common symptoms include:
- A racing heartbeat
- Feeling faint, dizzy, or light-headed
- Experiencing extreme hot or cold sensations
- Sweating, trembling, or shaking
- Nausea
- Chest and stomach pain
- Difficulty breathing and trembling legs
While some people experience panic attacks as isolated incidents, for others, they can be a component of underlying mental health conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder or generalised anxiety disorder.
Mental health charity Mind offers the following guidance for managing a panic attack:
- Acknowledge the attack: Recognise that you are experiencing a panic attack.
- Focus on breathing: Concentrate on slow, deliberate breaths, perhaps inhaling for a count of five and exhaling for a count of five.
- Engage your senses: Try stamping your feet on the spot, focusing on what you can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Grounding techniques can be very effective.
- Seek support: If you find you cannot calm yourself, reach out to a trusted individual for assistance or contact emergency services if necessary.
Judd now hosts a podcast that artfully blends music and meditation. She finds that the conversations on her show have significantly reduced her own anxieties. The podcast features guided meditations on topics such as achieving restorative sleep and reframing anxious thoughts. Each episode incorporates new musical compositions performed by the Scottish Symphony Orchestra and The Singers. “It’s not a typical podcast,” Judd explains. “The way it flows is that we give a thought around a topic, then we move into breathing with classical music, then a guest comes on and they do their meditation.”
While Judd still experiences occasional panic attacks, she feels a greater sense of control and can now identify the early signs of escalating anxiety and overwhelm. “We live in such a fast-paced world and so many people are burnt out, overwhelmed and fatigued,” she observes. “We just need to learn to slow down and be still and remember that everything is going to be OK.”
For those seeking further assistance and support regarding anxiety, resources are available through Action Line.
