Goldie Hawn 'lived with anxiety' when she was growing up during Cold War

3 May 2019

Goldie Hawn admits she "lived with anxiety" when she was growing up because she feared she would die during the Cold War.

Goldie Hawn

The 73-year-old Hollywood legend has opened up about her struggle as a little girl because she would worry that the Russians were going to bomb America in the Cold War, which was a rivalry that developed after World War II between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies.

Speaking at the Child Mind Institute's 5th Annual Change Maker Awards on Wednesday (01.05.19), Goldie said: "I lived with anxiety as a little girl. I thought the Russians were going to bomb us. I thought I could die without ever kissing a boy. I suffered anxiety every time I heard a siren."

And Goldie - who was accepting the Activist Award at the prestigious ceremony - explained that her anxiety followed her into her television career and she started suffering panic "attacks".

She added: "The next thing I know I'm doing a TV show and I was having nonspecific anxiety attacks, I didn't know why I was feeling anxious or what was wrong with me, when I would go into public and feeling like I could vomit. I didn't know why I wanted to sit on a couch while I was supposedly becoming something that everyone was so excited for me."

However, the 'Overboard' star didn't want her anxiety to rule her life and credited mediation for helping her overcome the disorder.

She continued: "I suffered for about a year ... [then] I took charge and saw a doctor. But that was the time when I was 21 and I realised that I had a mind, that I was going to fix that mind and I was going to make sure I knew and understood everything that was happening and why it was happening.

"I went for meditation because it was the thing to do, and when I did, it was like I can't ever explain to you - it was the most joyful experience I've ever had. I felt like I returned back to my deepest part, to my heart, to my joy. It just hit this seed of joy that I always had as a young girl. Because all I ever wanted to be was happy. That was my goal."