Little Mix’s Perrie Edwards Shares That She Has Anxiety + That We Are Not Alone

She shared her personal experiences to help us feel like we’re not alone. 

Anxiety is something that is often either not talked about enough or simply dismissed. It is a taboo topic, especially amongst celebrities because they are expected to be flawless and happy all the time. However, Little Mix’s Perrie Edwards has decided to change that. She posted a picture on Instagram, which showed her freckles and messy hair. The photograph itself was already so raw but her caption made us feel even more like we were one of her closest friends.

In her caption, Perrie described her experiences with anxiety and how she felt lost, alone, paranoid, and, most of all, scared. She also explained that talking to someone about how you’re feeling, whether a therapist or a friend, “relieves you of SO MUCH STRESS”. She ended the caption by reclaiming her anxiety and assuring us that if we suffer from anxiety, we are not alone.

 

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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 Apr 17, 2019 at 8:55am PDT

We know it could not have been easy to decide to open up, especially on social media, but we appreciate her for it. It is especially great to see this post after Bebe Rexha recently opened up about her bipolarity because it means that more conversations will be started regarding mental health. We hope that more celebrities follow suit and continue to raise awareness.