Ellie Goulding burst onto the music scene back in 2010 with Lights—but the singer is now sharing that, at the same time, she was in a dark place personally.
In a new essay for Well + Good, Goulding reveals that her rapid rise to fame caused her to suffer from panic attacks and anxiety.
"I was thrilled, of course—sharing my music with the world was a dream I'd been working toward for years—but it was a lot all at once," she writes. "Suddenly, I was living alone in London and everything was happening so fast."
The life-altering experience brought on panic attacks for the singer. "The scariest part was it could be triggered by anything," Goulding writes. "My new life as a pop star certainly wasn’t as glamorous as all my friends from home thought. Secretly, I was really struggling physically and emotionally."
Goulding shares that the combination of a lack of self-confidence and the intense pressures of her career led to her mental health battles. "I think part of what sparked my panic attacks was not feeling confident enough to believe in myself—I was scared I wasn't as good of a singer as everyone thought I was," she writes. "And as the stakes grew, I was afraid of letting everyone, including myself, down."
Even performing was a struggle, she reveals, citing her "nerve-wracking" performance at the 2016 Grammy Awards. Eventually, though, Goulding realized that she had to find confidence within herself in order to move forward. "I was annoyed for being paralyzed with nerves every time I was about to perform on television. I told myself that this was exactly where I was supposed to be and if other people believed in me, I had to start believing in myself," she writes.
In addition to those positive affirmations, Goulding began a fitness regimen—involving lots of boxing and kickboxing—to help her "inner confidence" and her anxiety. "It wasn't about any change in my outward appearance; it was about seeing and feeling myself get better and stronger," she writes. "It carried over into other areas of my life, and now I truly feel that exercise—however you like to work out—is good for the soul."
This isn't the first time Goulding has spoken about her battles with anxiety and panic attacks: In 2013, she revealed that she thought she was "having a heart attack" and "dying" the first time she had a panic attack. "It was the weirdest time in my life," she said at the time. Last spring, she shared that cognitive behavioral therapy has also helped her take control of her anxiety.
Goulding isn't the only celeb speaking out about mental health: Several celebrities—including Kendall Jenner, Emma Stone, and Rachel Bloom—have also opened up about their own issues with anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses. Most recently, Chrissy Teigen penned an essay for Glamour about her struggle with postpartum depression and anxiety.
In Goulding's case, the singer says she now finds herself in a much better place. "I still feel nervous before performing, or have pangs of anxiety from time to time, but it's not crippling like it used to be," she says. "And now that I believe in myself more, that confidence comes through, whether I'm working out, singing onstage, or just hanging out by myself at home."
h/t Well + Good
Related:
- Ellie Goulding Went To Therapy For 'Debilitating Panic Attacks'
- 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Panic Attacks
- Why I'm Not Ashamed To Say I Go To Therapy
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