Rebecca Gibney reveals she had '15 panic attacks a day' at the height of her fame

‘I was in such a hole, and I thought I’m not going to make it’.

Actor Rebecca Gibney has revealed her struggle with anxiety and how it took over her life before she began therapy.

While Rebecca Gibney appeared to have everything going for her, she was silently struggling with a crippling health condition.

That is the revelation that the New Zealand-born actor shared on her episode of This Is Your Life.

The Packed To The Rafters star explained that she first noticed that her mental health was on rocky footing after her divorce from first husband Irwin Thomas.

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The two were married from 1992 to 1995, and while that was falling apart, her life in the spotlight was falling together.

“It was pretty tough,” Gibney explained on the program. “And that was the hard thing, you do put on a front. My career was going great guns.”

Gibney was starting to experience an anxiety disorder, but with a lot less awareness around the condition back then, she didn’t know how to explain how she felt.

“I just couldn’t verbalise there was a hole inside of me and I was tumbling into it,” she shared candidly.

She explained a few instances that really rocked her, including needing to take five Valium in order to ‘survive’ a flight from France to Australia.

Image: Getty Images

At its worst Gibney was experiencing up to 15 panic attacks a day.

Given that panic attacks can last around 20 minutes or so, that is a lot of accumulative hours in the day to be going through a state of extreme flight-or-fight panic.

“I had anxiety attack after anxiety attack. I was in such a hole, and I thought I’m not going to make it,” she admitted.

Gibney was so worried about her condition that she didn’t even tell her mother or close family about the rollercoaster she was going on. Mostly, because she wouldn’t know how to explain it to them even if she did.

“It’s so important that now, people talk about their struggles. Because if you get the help, you can get through it,” she added.

Gibney has gone though extensive therapy to deal with her anxiety disorder, and says that now she knows how to notice when she’s sliding ‘into that pit’ and the tactics that can help to pull her out of it.

In an emergency please call 000

If you or someone you know needs help, phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the 24-hour Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.

Mental health professionals are available 24/7 at the beyondblue Support Service – 1300 22 46 36 or via beyondblue.org.au/get-support for online chat (3pm-12am AEST) or email response.

Originally published as Rebecca Gibney reveals she had '15 panic attacks a day' at the height of her fame