Alison Hammond’s panic attack experience hits close to home: Christa Ackroyd

Alison Hammond is to the outside world the most confident of confident women. At the top of her game, she has never looked better or been more successful. And in a world that churns out what is so often expected of women on TV, and in life, in terms of looks, personality and character, she is quite simply a breath of fresh air.

She has two network shows, including the delicious Great British Bake Off, which just as a side note I am loving, largely due to the addition of new judge Nigella (Lawson) who succinctly puts to rest any theory that life for women in their sixties is pretty much over, when in fact it can be deliciously naughty and beautifully unexpected. She is 66 and gorgeous. Anyway I digress.

Alison Hammond as the co-host of Bake Off appears super happy in her new role and in life. She is a beautiful woman with a son and a handsome partner, and with ease manages to show the world that which looks simple but never is, being entirely herself in front of the cameras, kind, empathetic and with a whole heap of cheeky irreverent Tigger like energy. She is exactly, as is Nigella, the perfect example of what is so often lacking on TV, a woman who has already developed her own personality before hitting our screens, is a joy to behold and comfortable to watch. As by the way was the late wonderful campaigner and role model Dame Esther Rantzen, and is Emma Willis on Strictly and Claudia Winkleman on Traitors. Yes, it seems despite the call to conform we are still blessed with a whole host of women who are entirely comfortable in their own skin.

Yet last week Alison Hammond broke down on her other big TV gig, while live on air presenting This Morning. Clutching her chest she rushed off set, wretched loudly and was immediately rushed to hospital for tests. Viewers were understandably worried. So was she. Put simply Alison thought she was having a heart attack and just a couple of days ago she explained exactly what had happened. She had suffered a panic attack in the worst possible situation in front of millions of people and not even on a recorded show, in which case we would never have known.

Has this ever happened to me? Twice, though fortunately never on live telly. But I know the feeling. And if the medical stats are correct, probably so do you. It is a frightening experience.

Nerves, all of us suffer from. Nerves before an exam, before a big event including weddings or work presentations, especially frightening if they happen in the dead of night when our worries are magnified to the point that our future appears uncertain. But it is no laughing matter when nerves suddenly overwhelm us to the point where we can’t breathe and butterflies in the stomach turn to physical pain so severe we presume our life may be imminently cut short.

So God Bless Alison for telling us exactly what happened and not making light of it, even though, as is so often the case she has no idea where it came from or why. That simply makes her, and therefore us who have experienced similar episodes, human and normal.

And to think that a woman who makes her money by being mean and spiteful and goes by the name of Katie Hopkins told her not only was she a “chumbawomba”, presumably a reference to her weight, but to “get a grip” and effectively stop making a “massive fuss” about nothing. But then there is a woman who should not be mentioned in the same breath as the aforementioned females.

One who puts down others rather than builds up and who tries so hard to be different when she is anything but by simply conforming to that which is sweeping the nation and which I hope this column tries to alleviate, being snidey and mean, showing not a care in the world who gets hurt and at what cost her negative attitudes have on others. Hence the damn panic attacks for so many in the first place.

You will all have heard of the phrase when panic sets in. Sometimes the reason is obvious. Stress, relationship breakdowns, bereavement, overload at work or emotionally, even our diet (too much caffeine) and sleep patterns. Even extreme physical exertion. That didn’t explain mine for sure. Those are easy to understand. But all too often panic attacks are an unexplained one off. And they will happen sometime in our lives to one in ten of us. What chemically happens is that our bodies produce a sudden rush of adrenaline and goes into fight or flight mode and women are twice as likely to suffer from them.

So now you know. Maybe if you are unfortunate enough to become one of those statistics you will understand you are not alone. Far from it. Though for heavens sake please don’t brush them off and get checked out as Alison is now doing.

I don’t know whether panic attacks are on the increase. It wouldn’t surprise me. Talk of war and making sure our cupboards are stocked for emergencies doesn’t help, although I am reminded that an entire generations never got out of the habit, women like mum who was a teenager in the war who was regimented in replacing that which she used to the point where she ended up with so many jars of coffee, tins of tuna and packets of dried fruit you could hardly close the cupboard doors, not to mention an emergency cupboard in the landing with torches batteries candle and matches and more toilet rolls than the corner shop.

There is tension on the streets as I witnessed last week on our homeless outreach where we encountered an ever increasing number of people who were desperate, including at least half a dozen who had been released from jail that day on early prison release without guidance, support or anywhere to stay. I know they have done wrong but if prison is supposed to help them gain a fresh start why then do they have to commit more crime just to get back inside for a bed and a meal as many will do? And how will that make our streets feel safer for the rest of us when more and more are wandering aimlessly with nowhere to go? The cost of living is spiralling. The prices at the petrol pumps are terrifying. Food prices are horrific and we have a crazy sense that the world is spinning out of control. No wonder some of us feel panicked. Yet it is strangely comforting to know even those who seem not to have a care in the world, people who outwardly appear to have it all, can on occasion feel exactly as we do.

I wish Alison Hammond well and thank her for shedding light on what to her was a terrifying experience. But we need more people like her and all those women (and men) on screens and in our life to tell us that which we all know deep down, that this too shall pass. Have a wonderful positive week ahead and never forget there is more good in the world than bad, even if that doesn’t seem so at times.