Perrie Edwards, the 31-year-old Little Mix singer, opened up about her experience of mistaking a panic attack for a heart attack and how she felt like she was dying after the terrifying incident.
Speaking on Fearne Cotton's podcast, Happy Place, Edwards talked about the traumatic ordeal that saw her end up in the hospital.
She said, "I thought I was having a heart attack. I even asked my mum if she was going to put me in a mental institute at one point. It was so bad, and I couldn't make sense of it all in my head."
Now a solo artist, Edwards has been coping with her anxiety and seeking treatment through therapy. Panic attacks can cause overwhelming fear but also some other physical symptoms, such as chest pain, difficulty breathing, and a pounding heart — feelings that you might mistake for a heart attack.
NHS states symptoms of panic attacks:
- Racing heartbeat
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Dizziness
Though panic attacks can be terrifying, they are not dangerous, and typically, panic attacks will pass within five to 20 minutes.
"But if in doubt, one would want to err on the side of caution and be quickly evaluated in an ER (A&E) to make sure this was not a heart attack," Dr. Glenn N. Levine, chief of cardiology at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, wrote on Heart.
Panic attacks, despite feeling extremely realistic, are generally caused by stress or anxiety; Thea Gallagher, a clinical psychologist at NYU Langone Health, explained this to The Sun.
"It's not all in your head. It's the fight-or-flight response. The alarm system is going off," she said
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