Garron Noone sat down with Patrick to talk about what a wild ride the last year has been, as well as a bit of craic and a song.
With his short comedy videos, Garron has become one of Ireland’s best-known social media personalities.
Originally from Mayo, musician Garron started out on social media, posting videos of himself performing music and sometimes uploading funny thoughts.
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However, what many people would not know from his social media is that Garron suffered from agoraphobia.
Speaking to Patrick Kielty, Garron confessed: “I have posted about it and spoken about it a couple of times, but I used to suffer from agoraphobia.”
He continued: “I started having panic attacks when I was about 16. One of my friends had died and that sort of started to come.”
“And they got worse over and over time, over a few years, and eventually got to the point where I couldn’t leave the house without having a panic attack.”
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“So I spent about five years completely housebound having panic attacks every day. And I kind of put it out there on New Year’s Eve that I felt at that time, for many, many years, I felt that my life would never go anywhere.”
“I was never going to have a life that was going to be worth living. I felt really hopeless. And kind of out of nowhere, just by keeping with that, life has given me so much.”
And I’m doing things now I never thought I’d be able to do, like, you know, being on telly. You’re putting that out there also to encourage others to have a good stop as possible.”
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“Well, like, I think a lot of people, you know, I remember when I was going through that, I think severe anxiety has become a lot more common, especially since the lockdowns and stuff like that.”
“And it’s one of those things where I feel like people don’t really talk about it because the people that are suffering with it tend to be people who keep to themselves.”
“And I found I couldn’t find it to be too related. So I’d like to put it out there and kind of, you know, if you’re having this experience, it is something you can get through, things can get better. And it takes time, but it’s definitely gotten better for me, for sure.”
Garron Noone: ‘I have had some people cross the line. I’ve had to go to the guards about things’. The TikTok and Instagram star, who is hosting a new podcast, has grown used to attention from strangers. Not all of it is welcome, writes Patrick Freynehttps://t.co/fSROtG8EDG
— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) September 28, 2024
In an interview with The Irish Times, Garron spoke about his newfound fame and admitted he is “getting used to being recognised.”
“It happens a fair bit, because I’m very visible. There’s a fella somewhere in Dublin who keeps getting mistaken for me. He’s got free food and everything out of it. I’d do the same if I was him. He looks exactly like me. It’s impressive.”
However, Garron confessed the surge of attention can “be strange.”

Garron confessed: “It was a massive adjustment to go from hardly ever leaving my house to, every time I leave my house, I might take pictures with 20 people.”
“For the most part it’s good. But I’ll be honest, I have had some people cross the line. I’ve had some issues where I’ve had to go to the guards about things.”
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Garron previously opened up to Ray Darcy about his struggles with agoraphobia.
Speaking to Ray, the pair discussed Garron’s decision to leave school at a young age.
“You left school at what age?” Ray asked.
“I was around 14 or 15 when I left school; when I left school, at the time, I was having bad panic attacks,” Garron revealed.

The 30-year-old shared he used to be agoraphobic and couldn’t leave his house for four or five years.
He shared that after his friend had passed, he was triggered into believing he was going to die.
“I think I was about 15 when it kicked it. One of my friends had died, and that triggered this thing in me where I thought I was going to die basically,” he shared.

Garron explains his mental health got so bad that he couldn’t leave the house without having 3 to 4 panic attacks a day.
He said about his teen years: “I got a job at 18, but I would just get a taxi to work and get a taxi home.”
“I didn’t get out; for ten years, I didn’t socialise or anything.”

Garron credits CBT Therapy for helping him learn how to get through his mental health battle.
He says of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, “So you just take really small steps. It’s quite hard to get out of, but if you go through treatment, it’s very fixable.”
Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder.
It involves fearing and avoiding places or situations that might cause panic and feeling trapped, helpless or embarrassed.