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Little Mix’s Perrie Edwards Thought She Was Having a Heart Attack During First Panic Attack

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Perrie Edwards attends The BRIT Awards 2019 held at The O2 Arena on February 20, 2019 in London, England.Karwai Tang/WireImage

Real talk. Perrie Edwards revealed her battle with anxiety and panic attacks in a heartfelt message to fans on Wednesday, April 17.

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“I’d like to open up about something. Venting your feelings is healthy and I want to be honest with you all,” the Little Mix star, 25, began in the lengthy Instagram post. “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.”

Edwards then revealed that when she had her first panic attack, it was “so intense and overwhelming” that she felt like she was having a heart attack.

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I’d like to open up about something. Venting your feelings is healthy and I want to be honest with you all. 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. I’m not sure what triggered that first one but it soon spiralled & 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. – I’m happy to say that the physical attacks have stopped but unfortunately the anxiety still lives on. The reality is it probably always will. – 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. 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 realised I wasn’t going insane I felt more eager to beat it. I had therapy and I surround myself with my loved ones. Talking to someone relieves you of SO MUCH STRESS. I worked out coping mechanism’s 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. – 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 ♥️

A post shared by Perrie Edwards ✌️🌻 (@perrieedwards) on

“I was so scared and confused and had no idea what was happening to me,” she wrote. “I’m not sure what triggered that first one but it soon spiralled (sic) & 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.”

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Amid the stress, Edwards didn’t even want to leave her home. “It completely took over my life,” she admitted.

While the musician was able to get her “physical attacks” under control, she is still coping with anxiety on a daily basis.

“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,” Edwards explained. “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!”

Edwards listed therapy, talking to loved ones and limiting her time on social media as coping mechanisms.

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She concluded: “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 ♥️.”

The “Black Magic” singer rose to fame after Little Mix was formed on the UK version of The X Factor in 2011. On Wednesday, her bandmate Leigh-Anne Pinnock sent support through several red heart emojis on Edwards’ emotional post.

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