Friday, October 5, 2012 2:47am ET by  
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Ellie Goulding: "I couldn't walk down the street without having a panic attack"

Ellie Goulding has revealed that she was so overcome by attention and fame that she used to have panic attacks.

The British star released her debut album 'Lights' soon after topping the BBC Sound of 2010 list.

She is set to follow the album up with 'Halcyon' on October 8 but she told The Sun that it hasn't been an easy rise to fame.

Goulding admitted that she couldn't cope with how her new found fame and jet-setting lifestyle was combining with other factors in her life, with panic attacks soon ensuing. The 'Anything Could Happen' singer said:

"There were times when I felt like I was having a heart attack. There was too much adrenaline and my heart was pounding. It's just such a horrible, horrible thing to go through. I hadn't even released my first proper single when I started to feel the strain of attention. But I don't believe that it was the attention that was giving me panic attacks."

She continued: "I think it was everything in my life colliding at the same time. It really did get to a serious point where I couldn't even walk down the street without getting the pain. I'd have a numb arm, a very strange lump in my throat and a really hot chest, like my heart was on fire. I had to take Diazepam but I found it debilitating. I couldn't do anything so I had cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) instead and that actually really worked. The other day I was in Germany and it was a really hectic day and I thought, 'Oh God here we go' but I laid down, started breathing, closed my eyes and told people not to talk to me, and then I was fine."

 

 

 

Watch the video for Ellie Goulding's 'Anything Could Happen' below: