EXCLUSIVE He's the legendary TV hardman. But here Bear Grylls reveals top tips to fight off intense anxiety... and how they almost destroyed him
Have you ever felt stressed or anxious? The most likely answer is 'yes.'
Aside from being bad for your mental health, stress and anxiety can lead to obesity, diabetes, dementia and even an early death - and almost half of Americans report frequently experiencing these feelings, often spurred by economic and political woes.
Your browser does not support iframes.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
31 minutes ago
- The Sun
I went to bed feeling fine but woke up paralysed – doctors blamed it on constipation but the truth was horrifying
AS a parent with a full-time job and a busy social life playing football and seeing friends, Adam Dawer always had somewhere to be. But when he went to bed feeling perfectly well one night and woke up unable to stand, it was the start of a nightmare which would lead to a shattering diagnosis for the busy father of five. 5 5 Adam, 47, began experiencing vomiting and visual disturbances and initially thought he might have caught a bug. But his symptoms didn't subside and continued for weeks. Unable to stand up without being sick and increasingly concerned, he decided it was time to seek medical help. 'I was starting to worry it was cancer as cancer is a thing that has taken half of my family,' Adam, from Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, said. 'But no-one could give me an answer, no matter where I went. I went to the GP first and I was told 'it could be this, it could be that'. 'The only one I really remember is 'you might be heavily constipated '. When he said that, I couldn't believe it. I said to my wife Sharon 'we need to go somewhere else'.' It took Adam 18 months to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and, surprisingly, he felt relieved. 'When the doctor said to me, 'It sounds to me like multiple sclerosis,' I said, 'Thank God!'' Adam recalled. 'And he said 'You do know what MS is?' And I said 'yeah, but it's not cancer.' "We were at a different hospital and the minute we walked in there, it was as if somebody flicked a switch. From that moment on, life just got better. Regardless that I've got MS, at least I know what I'm dealing with. Girl paralysed after giant critter feasted on her scalp 'I felt a big relief because I was thinking it was something that was going to kill me.' Adam began to research the condition and decided to learn as much as he could. In denial MS is an often disabling disease that affects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). He admits for the first two to three years he was in denial and believed that his life didn't need to change. For the first few years he had Relapsing Remitting MS (RRMS) and he had several disease-modifying drugs to help slow down the progression of the illness. 'Some worked and some didn't,' he said. 'Many of the treatments have side effects that make you feel even worse on top of already being ill. 'Now I have Secondary Progressive MS (SPMS), which means I have moved onto the next stage, unfortunately. But I take medication and hopefully this will slow down the progression.' Adam had to give up his job as a graphic designer and accept a slower pace of life. "If I have to go to the kitchen, it might take me five minutes – but I'm OK with that,' he said. 'The main thing is: I'm still alive, I'm still breathing, so all is good. 'My wife is now my full time carer and I'm extremely lucky that she helps me get out and about. 'I still drive on occasion, it's the only thing that makes me feel normal like everyone else but mostly Sharon does it now.' Sharon helps Adam with all the practicalities of MS, such as preparing his scooter, wheelchair or rollator and sorting routes, finding out where is accessible or where might have dodgy pavements. 'She deals with all of that so I don't need to because I can't anymore,' Adam added. 'I wouldn't leave the house, the anxiety of all of that on top of being ill would be crippling. 'In short, she just lets me concentrate on the MS itself.' 'It's not a one-size-fits-all thing with MS' More than 150,000 people in the UK live with MS and many of them are unable to leave their house without help. According to research by The MS Trust, 94 per cent of patients said their condition has affected their mental health with 60 per cent experiencing low self esteem. Half of MS patients report feelings of isolation and loneliness. Adam wants people to be aware that MS can present very differently in each person. 'There's not a set pattern to it,' he said. 'There could be a guy with MS who runs marathons and there could be someone in a wheelchair. It's not a one-size-fits-all thing.' 5 5 5 He is positive about his life and happy he's been able to be an active and present dad for his five children. 'When MS announced itself into my life, the youngest was five,' he said. 'I'm glad that my kids were of an age that my declining health wasn't going to impact them so much. They weren't going to grow up seeing dad be heavily disabled. 'I got to be a proper parent. I really didn't want MS to rob me of being a parent or to rob my kids of having a dad who was there. 'By the grace of God, it worked out and they're all doing their own things now. The youngest will be 20 this year. The oldest is in another country. 'I honestly haven't been happier and mentally clearer in my life. I just had this mental clarity one day: everything's going to be OK. 'It was like a massive weight came off me. I really can't explain it. It kind of is a spiritual experience - I think having MS has been like a superpower – for my mind, the way I think. 'Everyone's got problems. But when a problem comes up for me, I think, 'Is anybody going to die? No? Then there's no problem. We can fix it.'' What is multiple sclerosis (MS)? Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex condition that affects the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord. It's an autoimmune disease, meaning the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the protective coating (myelin) around nerve fibres. This disrupts the flow of electrical signals and causes a range of symptoms that can vary wildly from person to person. The good news? MS isn't a death sentence, and with advances in treatment, many people live full and active lives. In the UK, over 130,000 people are living with MS, and around 7,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. It's typically diagnosed in people in their 20s and 30s, with women three times more likely to develop it than men. Despite its challenges, many with MS find strength and resilience they never thought possible. Common symptoms of MS are: Fatigue: Not your average tiredness—this is bone-deep exhaustion. Vision problems: Blurred or double vision, or even temporary vision loss. Numbness and tingling: Often in the face, arms, or legs. Muscle weakness: Making everyday tasks feel like climbing a mountain. Mobility issues: Trouble walking or balancing. Cognitive difficulties: Memory lapses or a 'foggy' brain. Spasms and stiffness: Muscles that just won't cooperate. Bladder and bowel problems: A less glamorous but common challenge. MS is unpredictable—you might have periods of remission where symptoms vanish, followed by flare-ups when they return. This 'on-again, off-again' nature can be frustrating and means people can be in anticipation of a flare. While there's no cure yet, treatments like disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), physiotherapy, and lifestyle changes can help manage symptoms and slow progression.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Explainer: What is the role of Kennedy's newly appointed US vaccine advisory panel?
WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of a national vaccine advisory board, naming eight new members of his choosing and upending the process for recommending shots for the American public. The surprise move drew widespread condemnation from doctors and public health experts, who say it will further undermine confidence in national vaccine policy. Here are details on how the panel works: The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, or ACIP, is an outside panel of experts that helps the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decide how specific vaccines are used, who should be taking them, and when they should do so. The committee makes recommendations to the CDC on vaccines that have already been approved as safe and effective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. ACIP members vote on recommendations for a vaccine's use in a public meeting, after reviewing data on how specific diseases affect different populations, information on vaccine safety and efficacy, economic analyses and implementation issues. Their recommendations are not binding and can be overruled by the CDC director, a rare but not unprecedented occurrence. Once the CDC director signs off on the ACIP recommendations, they become part of the U.S. vaccine schedule for adults and children, which is used to determine health insurance coverage. The Affordable Care Act generally requires insurers to cover vaccines that are listed on the CDC vaccine schedule. The recommendations also determine what the CDC's Vaccines for Children program will provide free of charge to families without insurance. Up to 19 voting ACIP members are appointed to four-year terms by the U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services, according to the panel's charter. It has six non-voting members representing the Health Resources and Services Administration; the FDA; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; the National Institutes of Health; the Indian Health Service; and HHS's Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy. There are an additional 31 non-voting liaisons from various medical associations, industry groups and other organizations. All 17 members fired by Kennedy had been appointed by President Joe Biden, including 13 who began their terms in 2024. Kennedy does have authority under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to add and remove members. Firings of advisory committee members are rare, however. The law also requires a diversity of viewpoints across the membership. Vetting and onboarding new panel members typically takes months to ensure they are qualified and free of conflicts of interest. Kennedy justified the firings by saying the departing ACIP panel was rife with conflicts of interest but provided no specific evidence for individual advisers. ACIP members must declare any potential conflicts of interest that arise in the course of their tenure and any relevant business interests, positions of authority or other connections with organizations relevant to the committee's work. Members must abstain from votes on any vaccine for which they have a conflict, as well as any rival to that vaccine or any product from the same manufacturer, according to CDC rules. They are required to divest all stock in vaccine makers and stop any active consulting work for those companies before joining the panel. They cannot accept travel or food from vaccine companies or collect product royalties. Similar restrictions apply to family members. ACIP members can keep working on vaccine clinical trials funded by industry and those research grants can help cover their salaries. They are required to file annual disclosures and recuse themselves from votes when specific conflicts arise. The American Medical Association, the influential trade group for physicians, urged the U.S. Senate Committee that confirmed Kennedy as health secretary to investigate the ACIP shakeup, saying it undermines public trust in vaccines. Kennedy's ouster of ACIP members could also end up in court, said Professor Sara Rosenbaum, chair of the Department of Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and a former ACIP adviser. Health insurers, drugmakers and providers who all use the committee's recommendations could have grounds to mount legal challenges, she said. The lawsuits could be brought under the Administrative Procedure Act, which directs how federal agencies make changes such as appointments and removals. Courts have ruled against this type of change to advisory committee membership in other cases. During President Donald Trump's first administration, at least three courts sided with the challengers in a group of lawsuits over a directive that resulted in the disqualification of many scientists serving on Environmental Protection Agency advisory committees.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Kennedy remake of CDC vaccine panel has US insurers reassessing sources of expertise
NEW YORK, June 25 (Reuters) - Health insurers are considering new expert sources to help determine which vaccines to pay for as anti-vaccine activist and now U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. begins to revise government recommendations for inoculations, according to multiple insurance industry insiders and experts. Last month, Kennedy dropped the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation that healthy children and pregnant women should receive COVID-19 booster shots. He has since fired the entire 17-member panel of outside vaccine experts that reviews data for the CDC and recommends who should get them, saying they had conflicts of interest without providing evidence of any such conflicts. Kennedy then replaced them with eight of his own selections - about half of whom have advocated against some vaccines. At least two CDC staff members have also left over Kennedy decisions. The new group meets officially on Wednesday for the first time. Two industry organizations, two industry consultants and two insurers told Reuters that the insurance industry would continue covering vaccines recommended by the CDC panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. But if ACIP drops recommendations, insurers may seek input from professional medical associations and weigh other scientific evidence, they said. Elif Alyanak, a consultant at health firm Avalere, said insurance coverage may start to vary. Insurers are required by the Affordable Care Act to cover vaccines that are listed on the ACIP committee's schedule, according to the CDC's website. 'Without ACIP making that official recommendation, we won't see the same mandated coverage,' said Alyanak, adding that health plans will need to decide if dropped vaccines were still worth covering. That could lead to confusion for patients and providers, she said. "If a patient is vaccinated, it won't be immediately clear whether or not they will have the coverage for it and whether the provider will be reimbursed.' After the CDC dropped its recommendation for the COVID shot for pregnant women and healthy children, Kaiser Permanente, a California-based integrated health system that provides insurance and healthcare, said it would continue to offer it based on medical evidence. It said vaccines are part of proactively keeping members healthy. Both the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Pharmacists Association have said the removal of the COVID vaccine recommendation for pregnant women could threaten patient health. The APA withheld endorsement of Kennedy's revised recommendation. Trade group America's Health Insurance Plans, or AHIP, said insurers will consult professional organizations like the American Association of Physicians and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists as they decide what to cover. Some public health and infectious disease experts have been organizing an alternative group to advise on vaccine use, including Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy who served as an adviser to President Joe Biden on COVID-19. He said the group, the Vaccine Integrity Project, has been meeting with insurers. "Given the recent developments, including changes at ACIP, we're actively monitoring a range of expert sources to guide our approach to vaccine coverage," said Alan Cohen, chief project officer at Buffalo, New York-based insurer Centivo, adding that it would seek input from medical societies and "credible coalitions like the Vaccine Integrity Project." Former CDC vaccine adviser Dr. Finona Havers, who resigned last week over Kennedy's changes to vaccine policy, said it will be hard for any outside group to replicate the work of the CDC's ACIP committee, and questioned whether insurers can be trusted to decide on vaccine access. A spokesperson for a national health insurer who asked to remain anonymous told Reuters that it is too early to determine if they would look to another group to make decisions around vaccine policy. Insurers aiming to keep health plan members healthy and lessen use of medical services would likely continue covering a yearly COVID vaccine, an independent consultant on vaccine policy told Reuters. For other vaccines not mandated by ACIP's immunization schedule, insurance companies will likely weigh member demographics and costs, the consultant said. A vaccine administered during childhood targeting diseases common in older adults, such as Merck's (MRK.N), opens new tab shot for the human papillomavirus that prevents certain cancers, could be dropped from coverage, the consultant and a second health policy expert said. But seasonal vaccines against RSV or the flu might continue to be covered because the costs of treating the illness present much sooner. Glen Nowak, a former communications director for CDC's National Immunization Program, said dropping vaccines might save insurers some money. "But they run the risk of losing anything they save if there are large-scale outbreaks."
