Meredith Vieira Opens Up About Anxiety Attacks

Anxieties Site
Anxiety Self-Help
Living with Agoraphobia
NIMH
Panic Place
The Caregiver

HealthyPlace.com Radio
Anxiety Support Groups

Books on Anxiety
Conference Transcripts
Anxiety Videos
Diaries - Journals
Disorders Definitions
Mental Health News
Online Anxiety Tests
Psychiatric Medications
Resources
Site Map

Email
ICQ
Instant Messenger

Visit and Post

Abuse
ADD/ADHD
Addictions
Bipolar
Depression
Eating Disorders
OCD
Personality Disorders
Self-Injury

send this page to a friend

Meredith Vieira Opens Up About Anxiety Attacks

The "Today" host talks about her secret anxiety attacks and why she really left "The View."

Meredith Vieira talks about her struggle with anxiety.

(April 2, 2007) -- -Meredith Vieira is speaking out on her secret struggle with anxiety. In a candid interview in the new Ladies' Home Journal, the career mom says she has been dealing with anxiety in recent years.

"What's odd is I can't identify what provoked the anxiety," she says. "I think sometimes maybe the magnitude of life just sort of creeps into my brain. I've got three great kids and a husband and we're all fine. We're so lucky. But then other times there's a weight that comes on you. Pressure, self-inflicted pressure."

Sometimes the feelings are so intense that she has difficulty driving over bridges.

"In recent years, when I have a lot of anxiety, I get ... I can't cross bridges," she says. "So I think a couple of times [my family] thought, 'Oh my God, what's the matter with her? She's driving on the bridge saying she hates her job. You know. I hope she doesn't make a quick right midstream.'"

One of Vieira's worst anxiety attacks occurred last Thanksgiving when she was driving with her then 13-year-old daughter, Lily, to Cape Cod. "She could see it happening . . . I made her play the same song, a Five for Fighting song," she tells the magazine. "And I just put it on repeat. The drive to Cape Cod is five hours. So I think she thought at that point, 'Well, Mom's a little wacko' . . . What's odd is, I can't identify what provoked the anxiety."

Vieira confesses that she even stays away from opening her fan mail because that, too, can drive her into a funk: "I could see 10 great letters and then the next one that comes up that says 'I can't stand you' is the only one I'll remember. It's horrible. I don't really have a thick skin. I think it's gotten thinner, actually."

But the mother of three finds strength and support in her family.

"They're showing me so much support," she says. "I can't pretend with everybody that it's hunky-dory. I need to spew and get it out. And they allow me to do it."

Her family was also a big part of her decision to leave "The View."

"I think any job you take is ultimately a family decision," she says. "And everybody agreed that it was the right time to make a change."

Source: ETonline

Last updated 04/07

Meredith Vieira Opens Up About Anxiety Attacks

RELATED LINKS AND INFO