Perrie Edwards Reveals Her Private Battle with Panic Attacks & Anxiety

“I thought I was losing my mind and it terrified me”

Perrie Edwards is letting herself be more vulnerable than ever, and she is sharing some personal mental health struggles that fans have never known about. The Little Mix singer posted a stunning new selfie on Instagram where she’s baring all the freckles she recently said she’s learning to embrace. But in her post’s caption, she also got real about her years-long struggle with anxiety, and the terrifying panic attacks she has faced throughout her career.

“Venting your feelings is healthy and I want to be honest with you all,” Perrie wrote on Instagram. “Over the past few years I have suffered really badly with anxiety and panic attacks. 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.”

“The first panic attack was so intense and overwhelming I felt like I was having a heart attack, I was so scared and confused and had no idea what was happening to me,” the singer said. “I’m not sure what triggered that first one but it soon spiraled & I found myself in a really dark place, feeling alone and scared. I had people around me but I couldn’t explain to them what was happening to me or why. It affected me so badly that I didn’t even want to leave the house. I would step foot out the door and feel the overwhelming need to go straight back inside. It completely took over my life.”

The singer explained that she is now doing much better physically, but her mental health is still something that challenges her.

“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 said. “It feels like the most unnatural thing in the world but the thing that helped me the most was discovering I’m not alone. I’m not the only person going through this. There are people all over the world feeling the exact same way I do!”

“As soon as I realized I wasn’t going insane I felt more eager to beat it,” she continued. “I had therapy and I surround myself with my loved ones. Talking to someone relieves you of SO MUCH STRESS. I worked out coping mechanisms and learned what the triggers are so that I can fight the attacks before they take hold. I restricted my time on social media which often made me feel trapped and claustrophobic. I took control of my life and accepted what I couldn’t control.”

Perrie finished off her note to fans by saying she wants to be honest about her condition in case it helps others going through something similar. Her words of wisdom are worth remembering, and paying close attention to.

“I don’t want to hide it anymore,” she said. “I suffer from anxiety and I want you to all know if you suffer from anxiety you’re not alone ??.”

You can see Perrie’s entire post in her glam new selfie-share below:

We applaud Perrie for using her platform to speak so honestly, and offer some important words of hope to every Mixer who can relate to her experiences.