I always considered wellbeing and depression being a problem for people that were soft and had never given it any thought that it would affect me.

In December I decided to take only the minimum statutory holidays so that I could catch up on the accounting work. A few days later I started experiencing vertigo and a panic attack a few weeks later.

I had never heard of a panic attack, but my heart felt funny, and I had tingling sensations down to my fingertips and I thought something must have been majorly going wrong with my health. The vertigo eventually cleared up after about three months which coincided with receiving an extension for filing the 2021 tax returns until the end of May.

Fatigue was an issue whilst I was experiencing the vertigo and more recently to the point where I needed to have a sleep at midday to get me through the afternoon. Prior to Anzac Day I had another panic attack while having a family holiday in Hanmer followed by dizziness, blurred vision and chest pain.

Once I got back to work, I explained to James I thought I had burnt myself out and we decided to reduce my office hours. I was still struggling with the physical symptoms so decided to have a week’s holiday in the North Island. I had another panic attack when I was meeting some clients the day before we flew out. While we were away a further symptom arose in the form of anxiety and I struggled to go out for meals and even leave the accommodation.

Once we got back from the holiday the following two weeks were not much fun, the dizziness meant I could not even do my normal farm chores of shifting break fences and I spent a lot of time lying on the couch.

Researching on the internet about anxiety I stumbled across a newspaper article with a few wee brain hacks to prevent the dizziness and this made an immediate improvement.
My insurance broker advised that I meet with a chap called Rico Gomez from Neurofit as he had a coaching program that may be useful. It turns out that this is the best money I have ever spent and within a month I have gone from being in a bad state to ready to tackle any challenge that comes my
way with a positive mindset.