In her relationship with Matthew, Lauren has been the calm, cool and together one while he faces his issues with self-confidence however she has been hiding a big secret.
WATCH! MAFS couple Lauren and Matt ended so badly, they’ve been BANNED from speaking!
“I suffer severe anxiety – like really bad,” she told New Idea. “It started when I moved to Sydney seven years ago coming from a small laid back country town. Literally within a month of living here, I was having panic attacks.”
Those attacks struck her at any time and any place – from Pitt Street mall to her bus ride into work. “It was so extreme, I couldn’t breathe,” she reveals. And it got worse from there affecting her looks as well.
“I started getting acne, I was getting rashes all over my body, I was so stressed. My body was showing me how anxious I was, it was crippling, honestly.”
Lauren is not ashamed of admitting to having anxiety – something many Australians experience at some point in their lives – and she has worked hard to overcome it and get it to a manageable level.
“I tried everything initially, like yoga and meditation, but the only thing that has honestly helped me is medication,” she says. “I’m on medication for it and it’s been just over a year and I’m such a different person, it’s crazy. This is who I am. I’m actually angry at myself for putting off taking medication for so long because I lived the past seven years a mess.”
But being on a national television show has seen Lauren admit to feeling those familiar stomach knots and spinning thoughts returning.
“This is the first time I’ve been on TV so I’m not going to lie, the very first shoot I did I was feeling that feeling again,” she says. “I worried that the anxiety would come back and maybe be worse. When things are new I still get anxious.”
But with all the tools she has at her disposal, she was able to get her feeling under control once again.
“I know what I need to do now when I’m feeling anxious so I can acknowledge it and cope with it. You can’t manage anxiety on your own.”
