Little Mix’s Perrie Edwards has bravely opened up about her battles with mental health.
Despite all the success of the group and their latest album, Perrie has admitted things have been far from perfect behind the camera.
In a candid social media post, Perrie told fans she wanted “to be honest with you all.”
The singer spoke of dealing with panic and anxiety attacks that left her feeling “alone and scared.”
Perrie wrote: “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.”
She continued: “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.”
Perrie added: “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”
Perrie’s passionate post comes as her Little Mix bandmate Jesy Nelson is set to open up about her own mental health in a new BBC documentary.
The Little Mix star will explore body image and mental health in a brand new documentary that will air on both BBC Three and BBC One.
Provisionally titled Jesy Nelson: My Story, the one-off special will look at how growing up in a social media-fuelled age of selfies, body shaming and trolling is having a profound impact on the mental health of young people.
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