Actress Rebecca Gibney has bravely gone public with her mental health battle, admitting she was dealing with a resurgence in panic attacks and crippling anxiety until she got help earlier this year.
Gibney took to Instagram on Monday, sharing the highly-personal message.
“As some of you know I struggled with severe anxiety and panic attacks for most of my life,” Gibney wrote.
“As a teen, I was often erratic, impulsive, prone to rages and bored easily.”
Gibney said her mental health struggles saw her leave high school at 15, only to fall into acting by chance.
By her early 30s, the actress said despite having “everything”, including a “thriving career”, “solid family”, and “extraordinary friendships”, she was mentally spiralling.
“The weekly panic attacks became daily, then hourly,” she wrote.
“The self-loathing was constant and my pain was so deep, I didn’t know how to deal with it. I just knew I wanted it over.”
Gibney explained her mental health struggles left her suicidal.
Her spiral only broke as she wrote a goodbye letter to her mother, admitting her mother would have never gotten over losing her.
“I was lucky,” she said.
“I got help and with baby steps I eventually came home to myself.”
Gibney explained earlier this year her “optimistic bubble burst,” leaving her beside herself.
“The panic returned, the stress, the sadness – and I found myself back in the pit of self-doubt, fear and anxiety,” she said.
Gibney said she decided to pick-up the phone and get help. She encouraged anyone going through a tough time to do the same.
“We all mask our pain but we all also feel it. You’re not alone,” she said.
“Light really does follow the dark.”
The message wasn’t lost on Gibney’s famous pals, who heaped praise on the actress for her openness.
“Thank you for sharing this. You will help so many with your honesty,” Real Housewives of Sydney star, Sally Obermeder, said.
Melissa Hoyer also heaped praise on the star.
“Just so extraordinary articulated Bec,” Hoyer wrote.
“Your strength, honesty, vulnerability and authenticity shines right through, like everything you do in life.”