Little Mix's Perrie: Terrifying anxiety made me feel 'so alone'
Getty ImagesPerrie Edwards has revealed she suffers from anxiety and experienced panic attacks which made her feel like she was "losing her mind."
The Little Mix star wrote about her experience on Instagram, sharing her mental health struggle with fans.
"Over the past few years I have suffered really badly with anxiety and panic attacks," she says.
"When I first started to feel the effects of anxiety I thought I was losing my mind and it terrified me."
"I felt so alone and like I was the first person in the world to ever experience it."
Perrie says the first panic attack was so intense and overwhelming that she felt like she was having a heart attack.
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The condition became so severe she says she was unable to go outside her home.
"It completely took over my life," she writes.
She adds that while the panic attacks have now stopped, she still struggles with anxiety and believes she always will.
'I'm not the only person going through this'
"I've had a relationship with my mind for 25 years now, so to feel it working against me sometimes makes me feel like a prisoner in my own head," Perrie says.
She says that what helped her recovery was realising that many other people had experienced the same thing and says that "venting your feelings is healthy."
Perrie also revealed that she went into therapy to get professional help for her mental health.
"I'm not the only person going through this," she continues.
"There are people all over the world feeling the exact same way I do! As soon as I realised I wasn't going insane I felt more eager to beat it."
She also says that she started spending less time on social media, saying it was one of the triggers for her anxiety and panic attacks.
"I restricted my time on social media which often made me feel trapped and claustrophobic," she says.
"I took control of my life and accepted what I couldn't control.
"I don't want to hide it anymore. I suffer from anxiety and I want you to all know if you suffer from anxiety you're not alone."
Messages of support were posted in the replies from fellow Little Mixer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, boyfriend Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and former Fifth Harmony singer, Ally Brooke.
For more information on mental health, visit the BBC Advice pages.
