James Kavanagh has admitted he “wouldn’t leave the house” for months amid his battle with anxiety.
In a candid new interview, the Irish influencer revealed that in 2019 he began waking up at 4am every morning and experiencing panic attacks.
Speaking to The Sunday Independent, James recalled waking up to a “fizzy feeling” that felt like he was “having a heart attack”.
The social media star explained that he woke up his boyfriend William and they called an ambulance, but were told it wouldn’t arrive for another hour.
“It was terrifying,” he admitted.
James revealed his “sleep was destroyed for about a year”, as he continued to wake up at 4am every morning and experiencing panic attacks.
“I had nothing to panic about, that’s what was annoying me. But then ferocious panic attacks every night.”
The presenter added of his panic attacks: “They would paralyse me, I’d have to lie on the floor, some of them I’d be physically shaking.”
James went on to say that his panic disappeared almost a year later, but he then experience a “permanent state of anxiety”.
The 33-year-old revealed he felt dizzy and nauseous whenever he left the house, and thought he was experiencing vertigo.
He explained: “I’d walk out and feel completely unbalanced, there were a couple of months in 2018 that I wouldn’t leave the house.”
Picture Brian McEvoy
“If I just wanted to go for a walk, I’d get out of the house for five minutes, everything would be very dizzy, I’d feel like the world was caving in, and I’d have to go back inside.”
James eventually went to the doctor and was prescribed SSRI antidepressants for anxiety.
He told the publication that the medication made “the world of difference”.
“I was worried, I guess maybe from urban myths, that my personality would change. I thought I was going to become a dumbed-down version of myself. I was this little mess, who was so lost and so unsure, so nervous all the time.”
James took to Instagram on Sunday to share a photo of his interview in The Sunday Independent, captioning the post: “Ironically, speaking about mental health can sometimes make me feel anxious – especially doing an interview about it.”
“But not with @liadanhynes – you are so deliciously easy to open up to and have a raw chat with. Which is what you’ll find in today’s Sunday Independent.”
“I went through a bit of a rocky patch with ferocious panic attacks and debilitating anxiety pretty much taking over my whole life. I went through numerous health checks thinking, at some points, that I was dying or had something seriously wrong with me.”
“Anxiety for me felt incredibly physical. It was wild and felt so spooky. It was also so confusing because stuff in my life was going so well and I was ‘happy’, in a sense.”
He continued: “Through opening up, William being consistently lovely, very honest chats with friends and medication prescribed by my doctor based on numerous visits, I got though it. And I genuinely kinda feel reborn.”
“I’m in a very happy place right now – something I genuinely never thought I’d feel again when I was in the depths of it. Chat! Talk! Ask for help! It really works & is very possible to feel good again.”
“One thing I discovered through talking to others is that it’s actually kinda rare to find someone who isn’t struggling or has struggled at some point – that felt, in a weird way, very comforting.”
“Anyway I’m rambling when there’s a bloody interview you can just read if you’re interested. K bye! Xo”
