Getting advice
Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.
Preparation
Transcript
Clara: Hi, how are you? I haven't seen you in class for a while.
Ben: Good, thanks. You?
Clara: Great, as long as I don't think too hard about all the essays I have to write this term!
Ben: Yeah …
Clara: Hey, are you OK?
Ben: I have to admit, I'm struggling a bit. Maybe even a lot. I've not been sleeping well at all and then I can't concentrate. And all these things are just going around and around in my head.
Clara: Mmm … that doesn't sound good. So, you're sleeping badly and you can't concentrate. Is that all it is, do you think?
Ben: Well, if I'm honest, it's more than that. I'm starting to dread going outside. I find myself worrying about stupid things like what if I forget the way home. Or, what if I go to class thinking it's Monday but actually it's Friday and I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time. It sounds even more stupid when I say it out loud. It took me two hours to leave the house today.
Clara: It doesn't sound stupid at all. It actually sounds a lot like me last year.
Ben: Really? But you're so together!
Clara: I've learned to be, but even I still have bad days. I used to have panic attacks and everything. When you were trying to leave the house today, how did you feel?
Ben: Like I couldn't breathe. And my heart was going way too fast.
Clara: Hmm … that sounds like a panic attack to me.
Ben: I thought I was going to die.
Clara: You'd be surprised how common they are. Loads of people have them, they just don't talk about it.
Ben: How did you get over them?
Clara: I actually talked to a doctor about it, and you should too. But I learned some practical things as well. Though they're easier said than done, and they're going to sound weird, so hear me out, OK?
Ben: OK …
Clara: So, one thing I did was to try to reduce the power of the anxiety and the panic attacks when they came. So – and this may sound strange – at a time when you're feeling safe and OK, you literally do things that make your heart start racing faster and your breathing speed up. Like spinning around on a chair until you're dizzy or hyperventilating so you're short of breath.
Ben: That sounds awful!
Clara: It is, but it means you get used to the symptoms, so they feel less scary.
Ben: Right.
Clara: Then you have to deliberately do the things that usually make you feel panic. So, if it's going to class on Monday and being scared you've got the wrong day, on Monday you go to class. If you let the anxiety control you by making you stay at home, it just makes it worse the next time you really do have to go out.
Ben: And what did you do if a panic attack came anyway?
Clara: I had a distraction plan. So, I walked everywhere instead of taking the bus because the exercise helped, but also I did things like count trees or red cars or something. Whatever it was didn't matter, as long as I had something else to focus on.
Ben: I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. I thought …
Umm, I feel anxious when I have an exam or an interview.
I'm an overthinking person. When I see myself in this state, I try to keep myself busy.
What makes me feel nervous is speaking in front of a group, meeting new people, trying new things for the very first time and, like the others, practising my speaking skills. English is not my first language, so when it comes comunicate and sound properly, I always find myself feeling nervous about it. But well, like everything in life, you just have to keep going, isn't it?
Public Speaking or presentation, just the thought of these two makes me anxious and nervous. oh.. there is one more thing that makes me anxious talking to someone new on call, maybe speaking english nowadays has become anxiety worthy too.
This conversation made me know more information about panic attacks. I feel like it is about mental health that some people cannot tell they've got the panic attacks cos it is not obvious physical problems. Therefore, we should pay more attention on mental health, such as panic attacks, which definitely negatively affect people's health. And it is also important that you need to ask other's help, go hospital or tell your friend what you should overcome it. Sometimes i do not think i have good mental health but i do not know what i should do because i am too ashamed to admit i got this kind of problem, which cause this kind of mental problems getting worth than before cos i did not go gp or just tell others.
I had the similar experience, I vised psychologist last four years, now I am a bit okay. there are many things can make me nervous, anxious especially thinking about the future worry about things might happen might not happen, bad scenarios in my head distract me enjoying the moment, I am struggling with this day by day. I can concentrate,
I'm getting nervous and very anxious when I read news. There's war in my country, and news are mostly negative, such as "russians getting closer to my city" or "russian missile killed XXX civilians". The only thing that helps is to distract myself with something else, for example English learning.
I’m an English teacher and I’ve been using the website for classes. Here is one of my student’s answer:
"People who don´t care about time, especially in appointments, make me very nervous and anxious. "
Dear British Council team,
Although I've been listenining the phrase " my heart was going too fast", But I've still listenned that like "going way of us"
Could you show me how to link words in that phrase above
Thanks,
Rose
Hello Rose,
The phrase is spoken with some quite clear pauses, so it's not the most typical way to say it. The first thing is to recognise the stresses parts of the sentence:
my heart was going way too fast
Between these stresses syllables the other words are unstressed: they are quieter and spoken more quickly, as if the speaker were rushing to get to the next stressed syllable. Sometimes the words run together as if they were a single word, and sometimes they connect to the next stressed word, so you end up with something like this:
my heart wasgoing way toofast
A good way to practise this is to use the transcript and try to read it while you listen. Try to match your speed and cadence to the recording. As you try to keep up with the speakers you'll find yourself copying their rhythm.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team