Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards opens up about living with anxiety in powerful Instagram post
Little Mix's Perrie Edwards has opened up about her experience of living with anxiety and panic attacks over the past few years.
In an Instagram post, she began by stating that she wanted to open up about something because "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," wrote Edwards. "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."
Edwards described how she felt when she was having her first panic attack.
"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," she wrote. "I’m not sure what triggered that first one but it soon spiralled and I found myself in a really dark place, feeling alone and scared."
Edwards said she had people around her at the time of her first panic attack, but she couldn't explain to them what was happening to her. "It affected me so badly that I didn’t even want to leave the house," she added. "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," Edwards continued. But Edwards also said that realising that she's not alone has been the thing that helped her the most. "I’m not the only person going through this. There are people all over the world feeling the exact same way I do!"
She added that she's been to therapy and has surrounded herself with loved ones.
"Talking to someone relieves you of SO MUCH STRESS," she said. "I worked out coping mechanisms and learned what the triggers are so that I can fight the attacks before they take hold."
She said she restricted her time on social media because it made her feel "trapped and claustrophobic."
"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," Edwards concluded.
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
