She’s a multi award-winning pop artist whose career spans three decades - but, just like millions of other people, Kylie Minogue suffers from anxiety.

In a new interview with Attitude magazine, the singer is refreshingly forthright about what she calls the “tick tick” of her racing thoughts when her anxiety starts to spiral. 

“There are a lot of voices in my head. I guess part of that is our brains, they’re problem solvers, tick tick tick tick tick…,” she says.

“[When I’m feeling anxious] I put the kettle on and make a cup of tea… But if I knew the answer I would do it and I would have no anxiety…”

Around one in four adults in the UK will suffer from a mental health problem during their lifetime, and anxiety is one of the most common issues that people come up against. 

The mental health organisation Mind describes it as feeling “worried, tense or afraid” in a way that stops you living life as fully as you would want to (by being out of proportion, distressing or long-lasting).

Like any mental health problem, it can experienced in many different ways and levels of intensity. Counselling - often in the form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - is a typical form of treatment.

But Minogue says she relies on another kind of coping mechanism for when times get tough; and one that has been passed down through generations.

“My 98-year-old grandma said years ago: ‘What you need to do is lie flat, and you put your arms up and you just lie like that for 10 minutes,’” the Grammy-winning star says.

“And she’s so right, so I will. On a video day, during lunch I’ll go, ‘Right, phone off, dim the lights,’ and try and just be still.”

Pondering the option of seeing a therapist, Minogue continues: “There’s enough discussion in my head. I probably would benefit from [counselling] but I don’t really like it…”

The singer says she also practises gratitude: “They say that the fast track to happiness is gratitude and it’s true, just think that thought.”

Minogue is set to release her fourteenth studio album, Golden, next month. It’s a work that was put together as her relationship with fiancé, British actor Joshua Sasse, ended last year - but Minogue says the songs aren’t coloured by what she was going through at the time.

“I’m not writing from a place of heartbreak,” she says. “I was a bit broken, I wasn’t feeling very strong at a certain point, and we’ve all been there, we know what that’s like. But I tend to bounce back pretty quickly, I’m pragmatic about stuff. It’s looking rationally, with heart, with humour, to where I’m at…”

Minogue is the latest in a ream of celebrities who’ve opened up about their battles with anxiety in recent years. Ellie Goulding, Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone are just a few other famous names who’ve spoken frankly about their experiences of the condition, in an effort to smash the stigma that lingers over mental health issues.

If you or anyone you know suffers from anxiety, seek confidential help and support with Mind

Read the full interview with Kylie Minogue in the May 2018 edition of Attitude