Perrie Edwards has opened up about her personal battle with anxiety in a candid chat on Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast. The 31-year-old, who shot to fame on X Factor with pop band Little Mix in 2011, started experiencing panic attacks at 'random' a few years ago while on a trip to Las Vegas.
At the time, Perrie was convinced she was actually 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 quizzed Perrie over her drugs use, but the singer insisted she had taken nothing and remained convinced that something was 'happening to [her heart]'.
Image:
Getty Images)It wasn't until later that Perrie realised she had suffered a panic attack, a symptom of severe anxiety, according to the NHS. Generally, 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, although some may last for up to an hour. Crucially, 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 her diagnosis, the Little Mix star continued to battle numerous panic attacks that struck without warning. At one stage, Perrie even feared she was going 'insane' and wondered if her mother would section her. Thankfully, years of therapy and dedicated self-improvement have seen her emerge from those difficult 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?'"
Sign up to the Mirror’s Health newsletter and receive the latest health stories and advice - as well as Martin Bagot's weekly Health Check newsletter taking you behind the headlines - direct to your inbox
Perrie's terrifying ordeal also mirrors the experiences of reality TV star Jamie Laing who recently opened up about his own battle with anxiety, underlining the importance of World Mental Health Day (October 10). The 35-year-old, who left the Made in Chelsea cast in 2021, told ITV's Good Morning Britain that he experienced his first panic attack 14 years ago, after suffering in silence for many years.
Convinced he was having a heart attack, Jamie similarly took 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."
Image:
Hoda Davaine/Dave Benett/Getty I)When asked why Jamie 'never spoke out' about his symptoms, he confessed he once felt 'ashamed' because he didn't understand anxiety 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) ·