Lee San-san on Managing Anxiety
Former actress and Miss Hong Kong 1996 winner Lee San-san (李珊珊) has started a new business! Amid Hong Kong’s uncertain economy, the 46-year-old updated about partnering with a few like-minded entrepreneur friends to set up a small studio named “Appp Universe” in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui.
Speaking Up on Mental Health Struggles
Tagging her business partners in an Instagram post, Lee San-san shared photos of the studio’s interiors, and revealed in her caption that she spent “two preparatory months putting everything together from the lights to flooring.” Expressing her joy at having her own store and at how successfully everything had turned out, she also thanked friends and partners who have lent their support.
Featured in a local mental health awareness campaign in 2019, Lee San-san had revealed about suffering from panic disorder herself, holding up textual placards in which she described her experience as “momentary feelings of suffocation akin to hovering between life and death”, with symptoms of racing heartbeat, cold sweat, breathing difficulties and endless bouts of diarrhea.
“A Million Elephants” Charging at Her
The Detective Investigation Files IV <刑事偵緝檔案IV> actress had stayed indoors for extended periods while battling her illness. In November of 2021, San-san revealed, “Every time I leave home, the fear and anxiety would give me gut problems and diarrhea. Such that I woke up three hours earlier to prevent any delays. But it was especially bad this morning, if it had been a hundred thousand elephants charging at me, this time, it became a million of them stomping forward, it was unbearable,”
In October of 2022, Lee San-san appeared virtually in “The 2022 Mental Health Awards Ceremony”, not only encouraging others with similar experiences, but also sharing how she encountered many misconceptions and misgivings on her own road to recovery, which weighed on her greatly, partly due to her celebrity. Highlighting the importance of having faith to overcome, she said, “For those with emotional disorders, relapse is inevitable on the journey to recovery; it is vital to learn to be strong when faced with obstacles, you can give yourself a break during your low moments, but never give up on yourself.”
That is indeed rough. What type of stress is she having I wonder? I can see work, school or life stress as family.
Very courageous of her to come out and reveal her troubles. It’s a very terrible mental illness to have, esp in her line of work. I hope she’s on the right medications to help alleviate some of those symptoms and can live happily and peacefully now