Emma Chamberlian talks anxiety interview has inspired many of her fans to lead a robust life. In particular, people having mental issues such as anxiety or depression can have more power to move forward thanks to Emma Chamberlian’s story.
Below is the script of Emma Chamberlian talks anxiety interview by Vogue. Along with that, I also attached some viral videos of Emma Chamberlian talking about her mental state.
There are 5 primary points that this celebrity mentioned, which are burnout, anxiety, perfectionism, depression, and solutions. I will divide the talk into 5 corresponding parts so that you guys can navigate at ease. Use the table of contents to go to the most interesting part which interests you.
Emma Chamberlian talks anxiety interview: Burnout
Question:
I have to start by asking, how are you really?
Answer:
If I’m being honest, I’m feeling a little burnt out right now. I’ve been pushing myself to film videos more ahead of time and record more podcasts ahead of time and I think I might have overdone it a bit. I want my alone time, you know what I mean? So that’s kinda where I’m at, but I feel good, pretty calm.
Question:
I hear you on the burnout. What does burnout look like for you and how do you restore yourself?
Answer:
Within the past few months I’ve gotten good at getting ahead so that I can still upload and be present on the internet even when I’m burnt out. I take the moments where I feel really inspired and strong-headed to create as much content as I can, so the moments when I’m feeling less motivated I can take time off. When I’m feeling burnt out, I know that the best thing I can do is do nothing and wait for it to pass and it always does. I used to push through it and I would go deeper and darker into that bad spot. Now when I feel it coming, I beat it before it gets too bad.
So what does a burnout detox look like for you?
Answer:
Recently, any form of exercise really helps me clear my mind. Whether that’s going on a walk, jog, or doing pilates at home. Reading is a new thing for me. I’ve been reading a ton and listening to educational podcasts about whatever interests me that day. Also cooking! I love cooking, it’s very therapeutic.
Emma Chamberlian talks anxiety interview: Anxiety
Question:
You’ve been really open about anxiety, and despite our 10-year age gap, I can really relate to everything you go through. When is the first time you remember feeling anxiety?
Answer:
I’ve struggled with anxiety ever since I can remember. I didn’t know what I was dealing with until I got older. I’ve been dealing with it since pre-school when I would get really severe separation anxiety from my parents and also from inanimate objects. There were certain objects throughout my childhood that I was very emotionally attached to. It wasn’t like, “This is her favorite stuffed animal,” it was like, “she needs to have it with her all the time or else she has a panic attack,” type of situation. I knew that was bizarre at the time! My preschool brain was even like, “Where is everybody else, and why don’t they have this?”
But I always felt different. People would feel fine with their parents dropping them off at elementary school and I really had a hard time. I was always really anxious about weird things. Like when I’d get in trouble at school, the anxiety that came with it was just so much more extreme than any other kid. I noticed this about myself, but I just didn’t really pay much attention because I didn’t have a brain yet, you know?
Have you figured out if there is an overarching theme to your anxiety?
Answer:
I think most everybody can probably relate to this, but it’s when I don’t feel in control. For example, having a very public life on the internet is a blessing and I would not want it any other way, but because my life is so public, I have a lot of anxiety about my privacy, but not so much about information about me. It’s more feeling that when I’m at home by myself that a stalker could come in and kill me or something like that. That’s a big one. There’s so many people that have access to me and know who I am, so that inevitably comes with creepiness and causes a lot of anxiety for me. I also get a lot of anxiety about doing the right thing. When you’re in the public eye, everybody can see every move that you make, so I want every move I make to be perfect. I don’t ever want to make a mistake and that’s just not realistic.
Question:
This is what we’re here to talk about! I can imagine that this anxiety could get in the way of your sleep?
Answer:
It used to a lot more. But I fixed my sleep schedule over quarantine and now I go to bed at around 10:30 and wake up at around 6:30. I exercise throughout the day because I find that helps when it’s time for bed because my brain is actually tired whereas if my body is laying around all day, I can’t fall asleep and my anxiety takes over. But if I tire myself out before I go to bed I fall right asleep. I used to sleep like four hours a night. I was going to bed at three and waking up at 12. That’s not four hours but you know what I’m saying.
Question:
When your anxiety is at its worst, what does that look like for you?
Answer:
I haven’t actually been diagnosed with OCD but I do have a lot of the tendencies and behaviors. I get intrusive thoughts and I black out in these moments because I’m so consumed in my mind. When I’m having anxiety around people that I love, I try to talk about it and say that I’m having anxiety because whoever I’m with helps me calm down, you know? It’s definitely better when I’m with people than when I’m by myself.
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Question:
What sets you into a panic attack and how does it manifest?
Answer:
Oh my God, I’m remembering one that I had a year ago that sticks in my head because it was one of the most traumatizing ones I’ve ever had. Luckily my mom was in town and thank God because I fucking freaked out.
Question:
What ignited it?
Answer:
My life is really bizarre, you know? I have a very weird reality. And whenever I think about it too much I get so overwhelmed and I’m like, “God, I have this massive responsibility, why the fuck am I here? Why am I the one doing this?” There's so many people watching me and I have this really severe issue where I’m constantly obsessed with perfection and being on the internet has made that a lot more prominent in my life. I’m not perfect and I can’t ever be perfect, but I feel like I have to be. I don’t know how to turn it off and I felt overwhelmed with all of the things that I needed to be perfect for at once. And that spiraled me into this panic attack, I felt this massive weight on my back and I couldn't handle it anymore and I cracked. I was hyperventilating, and I felt like I was above my body looking down on it. I was crying and I didn’t feel like a real human being, it felt like an out of body experience and it was really the worst feeling I’ve ever felt. My monthly panic attacks are more just crying and shaking, but they’re not as dark as that one. That one was also tied into my depression as well. Panic attacks from anxiety are one thing, but when it's anxiety and depression at once, that’s when it gets pretty bad.
Emma Chamberlian talks anxiety interview: Perfectionism
Question:
Tell me more about the perfectionism…
Answer:
I have this perfectionist mentality where I need to handle every single situation in my life just right. I feel like I can’t ever be awkward and it’s so much pressure. I also get anxiety about things happening to the people I love. Like, if I text one of my parents and they don’t respond within the hour, I’ll spiral and it’s extreme. I’ll start bawling my eyes out and it’s not like, “Oh, I hope they’re okay,” I freak the fuck out and it sucks! But I’m getting better because I’m like, ‘Emma, you can’t live like this, you’re torturing yourself!’ I can go on about this all day so I’ll stop myself.
It’s interesting how much perfectionism came up as your primary source of anxiety. Everyone loves you because of your vulnerability and imperfection. We love you because you’re real.
Answer:
That’s a great point, but it’s interesting because perfection to me is not what it would be for someone else, right? Perfection for others might be never having a zit and a perfectly symmetrical face, or whatever the fuck, but for me it’s actually more of a moral perfection. So never having a moment of pettiness, never having a moment of resentment. I want to believe that I’ve never wronged anybody, that I’ve never hurt anybody’s feelings. Nowadays I’m so careful about how I am with others, but you know, you can’t control everything that you’ve ever done. I’m putting so much pressure on myself to only have a positive impact on the world, and that may be great but it’s made me isolate myself because I have this phobia of accidentally hurting others. It haunts me but I’m learning to realize you can’t do good either if you don’t talk to people out of fear that you’re going to hurt them. It’s so bizarre.
Emma Chamberlian talks anxiety interview: Depression
Question:
You've been really open about depression, do you still experience it?
Answer:
Definitely. Depression and anxiety go hand in hand. Both of my parents have struggled throughout their lives with different forms of anxiety and depression, so they’ve been able to help me through this. I’ve chosen not to take medication for my depression and that’s a personal decision because that is what works for me, but because of that, I’m not ever going to be cured, you know? I knew that I was going to need to learn how to get better at dealing with [depression] when it comes because I made the decision not to interfere with it, so I’m going to pay the price. I still have episodes, sometimes for a day, sometimes for months on end.
Question:
When did you realize you had depression?
Answer:
It was the end of my sophomore year of high school and I should probably put a trigger warning or something, I don’t know how that works, but I wanted to die pretty bad, let’s just say that. There were certain moments in my childhood when I struggled and I remember having vivid feelings like, “Oh my God, I wish I could die so bad.” And it was so weird because I was a kid, so I was like, “Okay, this is probably not a problem,” so I didn’t bring it up but I remember just wanting to die. It’s morbid as hell, but it was the truth and that’s where my mind went at the time. It kind of went away until my sophomore year, when it came back in a really severe way and I was having these extreme emotional outbursts of wanting to die, and it was so painful to be alive in those moments. I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced this, but when you’re depressed you’re sad all the time, but it’s still manageable, but then you have these explosions where it’s just too excruciating for you to bear and you want out. I just wanted out.
Emma Chamberlian talks anxiety interview: Solutions
Question:
How do you calm yourself down?
Answer:
There are two states of anxiety for me. The first is a full panic attack where I can’t cope with it by myself and I won’t be able to calm myself down, so I’ll call my parents. My mom is great with that because she has the exact same issues so she’s really good at helping me. But when it comes to more underlying day to day anxiety, I actually try to handle that on my own. Recently I’ve been journaling a lot, jotting down my thoughts and feelings, and it’s been helpful to put things into perspective. I’ll also go on a walk and listen to music and try to work through things, or do a job if I have the energy. And then I just wait for it to pass or I’ll call my parents or one of my close friends.
Question:
Did you ever seek help?
Answer:
I would have these outbursts at the end of my sophomore year and at one point it got—I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about this, actually—but I did end up going to a doctor because it was getting to a point where I was kind of dangerous, but my family and I decided no to medications and I started focusing on bettering my life and finding things I was passionate about. I actually found YouTube that way, making videos.
Recently, I haven’t had these outbursts as often because I now have coping mechanisms that I can work with, but you know, I still go there but they’re a lot more manageable now. I have those outbursts, once or twice a year now, and they're just unavoidable, you know?
Question:
What methods have you found that help you work your way out of it?
Answer:
I think the most important thing is to have something to look forward to and not overwork myself. A big trigger for depression is feeling like I’m living robotically on auto pilot if I’m just working every day. As a perfectionist, my brain makes me feel guilty when I’m not working every single day with no breaks. I overly discipline myself and I don’t let myself have a lot of fun. I feel guilty when I have fun, which is so stupid.
I’ll end up getting into these ruts where I’m working for six months straight and having no joy in my day-to-day and it sucks and I’m lonely and it’s just like, stop. Those are moments when I start to get sad and realize like, “Okay, we're going down a bad path here, things are starting to get a little sour.” Then I'll really lean into planning things. It’s all about planning things to look forward to and be excited about. Whether it's a barbecue, a dinner with friends or going on a little trip, just giving myself something to look forward to, and that will hold me over for another week. Then it's like, okay, what else can we plan? Finding things to look forward to helps me more than anything. I’m lucky that I have a close circle of friends that don’t make me anxious because I get anxious around most people.
This script is extracted from the podcast Vogue. You can follow the link to read the talk in chronological order.
Emma Chamberlian talks anxiety videos
The list of the videos in which Emma talks about her anxiety:
Emma Chamberlain, YouTube Star, Talks About Mental Health & Beauty Standards | Marie Claire
Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain: regaining perspective on Apple Podcasts
