In a recent interview with Variety , Elizabeth Olsen talked openly about coping with panic attacks in her early 20s.
Olsen admitted she “didn’t grasp what anxiety or a panic attack was” until she was 21 while talking about the children’s book she and her husband, musician Robbie Arnett, wrote about overcoming fears, according to the magazine.
The actor started having panic attacks at that age, which, per the Merck Manual , often manifest as brief episodes of intense distress, anxiety, or fear accompanied by physical and emotional symptoms. She recalled that she would receive them every hour on the hour. Olsen later said that this was “strange” because she wasn’t anxious as a youngster. “I was crossing 6th Avenue at 14th Street, and I realized I couldn’t cross the street. I stood up against the wall, and I just felt I was going to drop dead at any moment,” she recalled. Variety quoted her as saying, “I was really loud and confident.”
But as she grew older, something was obviously different. “Any shift in my body that caused me to feel chilly, heated, full, hungry, or any other way made my entire body think, ‘Uh oh, something’s wrong!’,” she continued. She went to an ENT doctor because she felt like she was “spiraling,” and the doctor suspected vertigo was the cause of her problem.
According to Melissa Horowitz , Psy.D., director of Clinical Training at the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy, “during a panic attack, the body enters into fight or flight mode and prepares itself to fight or run.” But the truth is that there isn’t actually any threat.
Olsen didn’t find relief until she sought the assistance of a mental health professional. She acquired “mental tricks” that let her maintain the present. She said, comparing the technique to acting exercises she had done in the past, “When I would walk down the street, I would just start identifying everything I saw out loud to get myself out of the whirling thoughts in my brain.” That tool was useful.
Olsen maintained medication on hand in case of need, despite her reluctance to take medication for her panic episodes. She remarked, “Just having that in my backpack felt fantastic.
The Marvel actress’s experiences are hardly unique. According to the Merck Manual , at least 11% of American adults have a panic episode every year. Additionally, according to the National Institute of Mental Health , 5% of individuals in the U.S. may suffer from panic disorder, an anxiety condition marked by recurrent bouts of acute dread. However, you don’t have to have a diagnosis of a panic disorder to have panic attacks. If you believe you are having panic attacks, you can get assistance by speaking with a mental health expert.
Even while it’s still taboo to talk about mental health difficulties, statistics (and occasionally celebrities) show that they’re more widespread than you might expect.
