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Woman Shares Powerful Pictures Before and After a Panic Attack

A beautiful British woman named Amber Smith wanted the world to see another side of her — not the glamorous party girl she presents on social media. So on April 3, the 22-year-old from Rugby, England, posted a spit shot two images on Facebook: one of her perfectly made-up face, and another where she is red-eyed and visibly shaken. 

“Top picture: What I showcase to the world via social media. Dressed up, make up done, filters galore. The ‘normal’ side to me,” she wrote. “Bottom picture: Taken tonight shortly after suffering from a panic attack because of my anxiety. Also the ‘normal’ side to me that most people don’t see.”

Related: PHOTOS: Stars Who've Battled Mental Health Issues

Smith continued: “I’m so sick of the fact that it’s 2016 and there is still so much stigma around mental health. It disgusts me that so many people are uneducated and judgmental over the topic. They say that 1 in 3 people will suffer from mental illness at some point in their life … F—K all of you small minded people that think because I physically look ‘fine’ that I’m not battling a monster inside my head every single day."

The post has been shared nearly 28,000 times.

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The Brit — who has battled depression and anxiety since the age of 16 — told ABC News that she penned the post because she felt misunderstood by those closest to her.

“I kind of reached a point where I recently wasn’t feeling too good with everything and I got forced to go out with some friends,” she revealed. “[My friends] kept saying, ‘Why are you late for this …? The whole time they didn’t know that I’ve been at home feeling nauseous, panicky, feeling sick and just generally not in a good place.”

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are among the most common affecting an estimated 40 million adults in the United States ages 17 and older. 

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