Skai Jackson Opens Up About Learning To Overcome Anxiety: “I’m Fighting It”

Skai Jackson has opened up about developing anxiety as a teenager and discussed how she’s learning to overcome her fears.

In a conversation with People, the Dancing With The Stars competitor revealed certain jobs and events used to negatively impact her mental health: “When I was younger I didn’t really have it. During my teen years I just really started to get anxiety.”

She explained: “I would get stage fright when I would do certain speaking engagements and I always would get through them but it was a really nerve-racking and hard thing to do.”

“The last few years I’ve dealt with it... it’s been really hard for me. Doing Dancing with the Stars really challenges that,” she said. “I’m trying to break myself out of it in a sense and [I'm] fighting through it.”

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Praising her strong support system of friends, Skai added: “[They] are my everything. When I feel that anxiety I always call them or text them and they talk me through it.”

When things get more challenging, she focuses on self-care: “If it’s really bad I just need to shut my phone off and sometimes just take a nap and chill because I feel like that's the best time to really relax my brain."

“My friends know I deal with a lot of things especially anxiety and they’re always here for me which is amazing.”

If you're experiencing issues with your mental health and want to talk to someone, you can find support at Samaritans.