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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Lottie Gibbons

Perrie Edwards couldn't get a train to see Liverpool FC boyfriend Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain due to crippling anxiety

Perrie Edwards has revealed that her anxiety was so crippling, she "developed a fear of being on her own".

Last month, Perrie opened up about her condition on Instagram - saying she suffers with panic attacks and that her first one left her feeling like she'd had a heart attack.

And now, in her first solo interview to Glamour Magazine , the Little Mix band member has disclosed the full extent of her mental health problems.

She said: "Weirdly when I first started experiencing the panic attacks, I developed a fear of being on my own. It’s a lot better than it was, I kept thinking, 'if I’m on my own and I have a panic attack, what do I do?'.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Perrie Edwards attend The BRIT Awards 2019 (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

"I’ve got nobody to reason with me and I can’t rationalise it in my head or get a sense of it.

"It got to the point where my mum was coming to the studio with me, she would drive to work with me because I couldn’t get in a car on my own."

But opening up about her emotions proved difficult for Perrie, who has been in thE limelight since 2011.

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She said: "At first, I never wanted to open up about it. When it first started happening to me, it felt like it had never happened to anyone before. I can’t explain it.

"It was almost like I didn’t know what was happening when I was going through the physical attacks and panic attacks. I’ve always had anxiety, I just don’t think it’s ever been triggered in a way where it’s become a physical attack so when it first started happening to me, it was so scary because I didn’t know what was going on.

"I was ringing doctors, I was ringing everybody being like, ‘I’m dying, I’ve just had a heart attack!’ I thought there was genuinely something wrong with me."

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Perrie admitted that even now she still struggles with public transport, revealing that in order to see her boyfriend Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain she has to drive.

She continued: "Even now, my boyfriend lives in Manchester because he plays for Liverpool so when he moved, it was crap and then once this started happening.

Perrie Edwards (Instagram/perrieedwards)

"I still can’t get the train on my own, it freaks me out and makes me feel really claustrophobic. I feel uneasy."

But after her cousin, Ellie moved in with her, Perrie said her anxiety has improved.

She said: "When I look back now to this weird wobble I had, I never thought I’d be where I am now because I never thought there was a way out. I thought this is me now, I’m going to be a house hermit, I’m never going to leave the house...

"It was like learning to walk again, it was so bizarre."

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