England players on how they deal with anxiety

A number of England stars have spoken about how they deal with anxiety in their lives as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.

This year’s focus area for Mental Health Awareness Week is anxiety, something which is a normal emotion but sometimes can get out of control and become a mental health problem.

Whether it is exam pressures, starting a new job, worrying about how you will be able to afford your heating bill or any number concerns, feelings of anxiety can appear at any time.

By focusing on anxiety for this year's Mental Health Awareness Week, it is hoped people will have a greater awareness and understanding of anxiety moving forward by providing information on the things that can help prevent it from becoming a problem. 

England captain Harry Kane said: "In pre-match, for sure there are some nerves and some anxious moments. It is probably more just waiting for the game to get started but sometimes I'll do some breathing techniques, just some deep breathing, to settle me down or listening to music is really important for me, just to take me out of the zone of thinking about the game."

England Women stalwart Lucy Bronze is another who spoke about her feelings of anxiety growing up and highlighted the important role family and close friends can play.

Bronze explained: "I remember having anxiety at school or because I struggled with dyslexia and moved abroad when I was 17 to live in America. I guess the way that I dealt with that was my mum.

"My mum is someone I can open up to and can talk to and not necessarily have to talk about what you're anxious about but even just letting conversation come out, letting your voice be heard."

There are a lot of different ways you can manage anxiety. The Mental Health Foundation’s recommendations include:

• - Focusing on your breathing
• - Exercise
• - Keeping a diary
• - Challenging your thoughts when ruminating 
• - Getting support for money worries
• - Spending time in nature
• - Connecting and talking to people about how you feel
• - Getting quality sleep or rest
• - Eating a healthy diet
  

England star Jude Bellingham said: "I think it's important to find the things that work for you. The more you put yourself in those situations and the more you experiment with things like music and talking to people.

"I've got into a bit of meditation and it helps me get into a zone where I don't really feel like I can be distracted or put off."

England captain Kane launched the Harry Kane Foundation in October 2022 with the ‘long-term goal to help transform a generation’s thinking about mental health’.

And he added: "I think that's important to talk about it if you are feeling anxious or if you're feeling down or worried.

"I've set up a foundation, the Harry Kane Foundation now, which is there to help people.

"There are a lot of companies or people you can talk to now about this sort of stuff and for sure, whenever you get it off your chest, it definitely helps.

"So don't be afraid to talk. Whoever it is. If it's your friends, your family or if you haven't got that, reach out to some of these helplines and it can really make an impact."