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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Mel Bradman

I couldn’t stop worrying – until I learned about the 6.30pm rule

Mel Bradman sitting in her front room, in front of a clock showing 6.29
Mel Bradman, getting ready to leave her worries behind at 6.29pm. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

The second half of 2011 was not a good time for me. Work was very stressful, and what had been gearing up to be the Great Summer Romance had slowly and painfully fizzled out. My mother was unwell, and I was going through a phase of really missing my father, who had died a few years before. It was the perfect, uninvited storm.

Before, when I’d gone through bad patches, I’d been able to dig myself out fairly quickly. Not this time. Suddenly, I was living in a state of high anxiety. I was still getting on with my life – going to work, going out – but anxiety was running the show. Having to make even the smallest decision would send me into a panic.

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