Emma Stone at the AFI Awards on Jan. 12 in Los Angeles, California.Photo:Jesse Grant/Getty ImagesEmma Stoneis putting a positive spin on her anxiety.In a newinterview with National Public Radio(NPR) published Wednesday, thePoor Thingsactress, 35, opened up about her childhood anxiety, sharing that while she initially had a tough time dealing with it, she found a way to push through.“I started in therapy, I think around age 8, because it was getting really hard for me to leave the house to go to school,” Stone told NPR. “I sort of lived in fear of these panic attacks.“The actress, who said that she had her first panic attack when she was 7 years old, added she believed the source of her anxiety when she was younger stemmed from the fear of being separated from her mother. She noted, “it’s a hard age to be able to reason with yourself, at 7 or 8, and tell yourself these things aren’t true. … It was very hard to convince myself otherwise.”Emmy Stone at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations event on Jan. 25 in New York City.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty ImagesAll that changed, however, when Stone started acting at the age of 11. The actress said the craft provided a way for her to focus on the moment without worrying about what happened before or what would happen later. She told the outlet that as an actor, “all of my big feelings are productive, and presence is required.“Those experiences have altered the way she thinks of anxiety now, Stone said. She shared to NPR that she thinks it can be a positive thing if people know what to do with it.“I’ve told a lot of younger people that struggle with anxiety, that in many ways I see it as kind of a superpower,” Stone said. “Just because we might have a funny thing going on in our amygdala, and our fight-or-flight response is maybe a little bit out of whack in comparison to many people’s brain chemistry, it doesn’t make it wrong. It doesn’t make it bad.”“It just means we have these tools to manage,” she continued. “And if you can use it for productive things, if you can use all of those feelings in those synapses that are firing for something creative, or something that you’re passionate about, or something interesting.“Said Stone: “Anxiety is like rocket fuel because you can’t help but get out of bed and do things, do things, do things because you’ve got all of this energy within you. And that’s really a gift.“Emmy Stone at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations event on Jan. 25 in New York City.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty ImagesNever miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.TheSuperbadactress has been open about herbattle with anxiety and panic attacksfor several years. In 2018, Stone said that improv taught her to “take all of these big feelings and really listen in the moment and use all of my associative brain.” That anxietyhelped her understand the emotionsof her characters better.“I also believe there is a lot of empathy when you struggled a lot internally,” she said. “There is a tendency to want to understand how people around you work or what’s going on internally with them which is great for characters.”
Emma Stone at the AFI Awards on Jan. 12 in Los Angeles, California.Photo:Jesse Grant/Getty Images
Jesse Grant/Getty Images
Emma Stoneis putting a positive spin on her anxiety.In a newinterview with National Public Radio(NPR) published Wednesday, thePoor Thingsactress, 35, opened up about her childhood anxiety, sharing that while she initially had a tough time dealing with it, she found a way to push through.“I started in therapy, I think around age 8, because it was getting really hard for me to leave the house to go to school,” Stone told NPR. “I sort of lived in fear of these panic attacks.“The actress, who said that she had her first panic attack when she was 7 years old, added she believed the source of her anxiety when she was younger stemmed from the fear of being separated from her mother. She noted, “it’s a hard age to be able to reason with yourself, at 7 or 8, and tell yourself these things aren’t true. … It was very hard to convince myself otherwise.”Emmy Stone at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations event on Jan. 25 in New York City.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty ImagesAll that changed, however, when Stone started acting at the age of 11. The actress said the craft provided a way for her to focus on the moment without worrying about what happened before or what would happen later. She told the outlet that as an actor, “all of my big feelings are productive, and presence is required.“Those experiences have altered the way she thinks of anxiety now, Stone said. She shared to NPR that she thinks it can be a positive thing if people know what to do with it.“I’ve told a lot of younger people that struggle with anxiety, that in many ways I see it as kind of a superpower,” Stone said. “Just because we might have a funny thing going on in our amygdala, and our fight-or-flight response is maybe a little bit out of whack in comparison to many people’s brain chemistry, it doesn’t make it wrong. It doesn’t make it bad.”“It just means we have these tools to manage,” she continued. “And if you can use it for productive things, if you can use all of those feelings in those synapses that are firing for something creative, or something that you’re passionate about, or something interesting.“Said Stone: “Anxiety is like rocket fuel because you can’t help but get out of bed and do things, do things, do things because you’ve got all of this energy within you. And that’s really a gift.“Emmy Stone at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations event on Jan. 25 in New York City.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty ImagesNever miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.TheSuperbadactress has been open about herbattle with anxiety and panic attacksfor several years. In 2018, Stone said that improv taught her to “take all of these big feelings and really listen in the moment and use all of my associative brain.” That anxietyhelped her understand the emotionsof her characters better.“I also believe there is a lot of empathy when you struggled a lot internally,” she said. “There is a tendency to want to understand how people around you work or what’s going on internally with them which is great for characters.”
Emma Stoneis putting a positive spin on her anxiety.
In a newinterview with National Public Radio(NPR) published Wednesday, thePoor Thingsactress, 35, opened up about her childhood anxiety, sharing that while she initially had a tough time dealing with it, she found a way to push through.
“I started in therapy, I think around age 8, because it was getting really hard for me to leave the house to go to school,” Stone told NPR. “I sort of lived in fear of these panic attacks.”
The actress, who said that she had her first panic attack when she was 7 years old, added she believed the source of her anxiety when she was younger stemmed from the fear of being separated from her mother. She noted, “it’s a hard age to be able to reason with yourself, at 7 or 8, and tell yourself these things aren’t true. … It was very hard to convince myself otherwise.”
Emmy Stone at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations event on Jan. 25 in New York City.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
All that changed, however, when Stone started acting at the age of 11. The actress said the craft provided a way for her to focus on the moment without worrying about what happened before or what would happen later. She told the outlet that as an actor, “all of my big feelings are productive, and presence is required.”
Those experiences have altered the way she thinks of anxiety now, Stone said. She shared to NPR that she thinks it can be a positive thing if people know what to do with it.
“I’ve told a lot of younger people that struggle with anxiety, that in many ways I see it as kind of a superpower,” Stone said. “Just because we might have a funny thing going on in our amygdala, and our fight-or-flight response is maybe a little bit out of whack in comparison to many people’s brain chemistry, it doesn’t make it wrong. It doesn’t make it bad.”
“It just means we have these tools to manage,” she continued. “And if you can use it for productive things, if you can use all of those feelings in those synapses that are firing for something creative, or something that you’re passionate about, or something interesting.”
Said Stone: “Anxiety is like rocket fuel because you can’t help but get out of bed and do things, do things, do things because you’ve got all of this energy within you. And that’s really a gift.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
TheSuperbadactress has been open about herbattle with anxiety and panic attacksfor several years. In 2018, Stone said that improv taught her to “take all of these big feelings and really listen in the moment and use all of my associative brain.” That anxietyhelped her understand the emotionsof her characters better.
“I also believe there is a lot of empathy when you struggled a lot internally,” she said. “There is a tendency to want to understand how people around you work or what’s going on internally with them which is great for characters.”
source: people.com
