Panic Attacks Made Ellie Goulding Smother Herself in Pillows, Kickboxing Saved Her

It must suck to be a celeb sometimes.

When Ellie Goulding got popular, all of a sudden it brought lots of attention, paparazzi and fame. She couldn’t handle it at times.

In an essay she wrote, Goulding says:

My life completely changed when my career started taking off in 2010. 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. Suddenly, I was living alone in London and everything was happening so fast.

The attention turned into panic attacks for Goulding. It got so bad she had to smother herself with a pillow.

I started having panic attacks, and the scariest part was it could be triggered by anything. I used to cover my face with a pillow whenever I had to walk outside from the car to the studio. My new life as a pop star certainly wasn’t as glamorous as all my friends from home thought.

A lack of confidence contributed to her panic attacks, feeling that she wasn’t as good as people made her out to be.

Gradually, though, Goulding used self-talk to work her way through the attacks. That and kicking the crap out of heavy bags.

But there was another way I found inner confidence: boxing and kickboxing. I love that extra kick of adrenaline.

What’s with all the celebs into boxing now?

Good for her though on finding a healthy way out of those downtimes. Now, it’s about time for some new music, Ellie.