My heart would race, my hands would sweat... I thought I might faint

EASTENDERS' SHONA MCGARTY OPENS UP ABOUT SOCIAL ANXIETY AND THE IMPACT IT CAN HAVE ON BOTH YOUR PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL LIFE. BY CAMILLA FOSTER

- BY CAMILLA FOSTER

FORMER EastEnders star Shona McGarty has opened up about living with social anxiety and has urged people to seek help with their mental health.

The actress and singer, who is best known for playing Whitney Dean on the BBC soap and for being a contestant on I'm A Celebrity last year, says social anxiety is something she has struggled with since her teenage years.

"I was always a chatty child, but as I got older, everything changed. Around 15, I suddenly became painfully self-aware," says Shona, 34. "My social anxiety would happen when meeting new people, with colleagues or even at family gatherings.

"My heart would race, my hands would sweat, and sometimes I thought I might faint. I sometimes pretend to receive a phone call just to leave a social situation."

She has decided to share her personal experience of social anxiety disorder to help raise awareness and support the launch of a new NHS campaign which urges people with six common anxiety conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) - to come forward for help by self-referring online at nhs.uk/talk.

Here Dr Ravi Gill, a health psychologist and founder of Smart Mind Health, highlights what signs might indicate that someone has social anxiety disorder, and what treatment is available.

What is social anxiety?

The NHS defines social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, as a long-term and overwhelming fear of social situations.

"People that experience social anxiety know that the fear they have around these certain situations is not OK, so their nervous system reacts in a way that sends them into bit of panic," says Dr Gill.