Perrie Edwards has spoken candidly about her struggles with anxiety on Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast. The 31-year-old Little Mix star, who shot to fame on X Factor in 2011, revealed she began experiencing panic attacks a few years ago while on a trip to Las Vegas.
But initially, she thought she was having a heart attack and rushed herself to hospital. She explained: "It's random but it started a good few years ago when me and the girls were in Vegas so, something happened and I'd just started experiencing like panic attacks out of nowhere.
"And it was really scary and I thought I was dying at the time, like, I thought I was having a heart attack." At the hospital, doctors questioned Perrie about her substance use, but she insisted she had taken nothing, convinced that something was wrong with her heart.
It wasn't until later that Perrie realised she had suffered a panic attack, a symptom of severe anxiety, according to the NHS. Typically, these periods of intense fear may trigger a number of distressing symptoms including a racing heartbeat, nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness, a fear of dying and numbness or pins and needles.
They often last between five and 20 minutes, though some may last for up to an hour. Importantly, the NHS adds: "Although panic attacks are frightening, they're not dangerous. An attack will not cause you any physical harm, and it's unlikely you'll be admitted to hospital if you have one."
Despite Perrie's diagnosis, her fight didn't stop here. From that point onwards, she suffered countless panic attacks at random intervals.
At one stage, Perrie even feared she was going 'insane' and wondered if her mother was going to section her. Thankfully, years of therapy and dedicated self-improvement have seen her emerge from those challenging moments.
She added: "I think now it's almost like I'm at the stage where, instead of trying to avoid the anxiety which I do, like as soon as I feel the tingles in my neck and I feel the anxiety creeping in I start panicking and then I spiral. Whereas, instead, I'm trying to learn to like be with the feelings and be like 'ok why do I feel like this?'..."
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Perrie's frightening ordeal also echoes the experiences of reality TV celebrity Jamie Laing who also recently divulged his own battle with anxiety, underlining the significance of World Mental Health Day (October 10). The ex-Made in Chelsea star, who exited the show in 2021, recounted on ITV's Good Morning Britain his initial panic attack from 14 years prior, having kept it to himself for a lengthy period.
Convinced he was having a heart attack, Jamie rushed himself to hospital, but doctors instead revealed a dramatically different diagnosis. Speaking with the TV show's presenters, he explained: "I took myself to hospital they said 'you're having a panic attack don't worry go home', I went home and that was the day that my life changed. I had anxiety that I didn't know what it was, didn't understand it, never spoke out about it."
Inquiring into why Jamie had 'never spoke out' before, he admitted that previously he felt 'ashamed' due to his lack of grasp on what anxiety really was and 'just wanted it to go'. The star continued: "It was there for many years until I spoke to a really great friend of mine who was best man at my wedding, a guy called Toby.
"I finally phoned him up and I got very emotional on the phone and I said 'Toby, something's wrong with me', and I was scared [about] what he was going to say. And he said: 'Don't worry Jamie, we'll go through it together.' And it was this echo back which was incredible and I suddenly realised that all these years that I'd been holding it in, why hadn't I spoken out about it?"
Jamie certainly isn't alone in this either. A 2024 survey from Mind unveiled that more than 56% of people experiencing 'mental ill health' still feel ashamed. In light of this, Sarah Hughes, CEO of Mind, said: "Shockingly, our survey shows that over half of the population associate mental health with shame. That’s why we are campaigning, so more people understand that it really is okay not to be okay."
For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
English (US) ·