While "anxiety attacks" aren't a widely recognised medical term, panic attacks are brief episodes of intense anxiety with physical symptoms like racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling and muscle tension.
"As many as 40% of Australians will experience a panic attack at any time, and the condition it’s most commonly related to is anxiety but anxiety rates are sitting around 15%, so clearly there are an awful lot of people experiencing panic attacks completely apart from any other diagnosis," Registered psychologist and SANE Australia Help Centre Manager Suzanne Leckie previously told Women's Health."We know that there are some kinds of genetic predisposition which might make someone more likely to experience one but that’s certainly not the case for everyone."
In a moving interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby, Markle spoke about the toll media scrutiny has taken on her, particularly after the birth of Archie in April 2019.
"Not many people have asked if I'm okay... It's a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes," she said. "Look, any woman especially when they are pregnant you're really vulnerable and so that was made really challenging, and then when you have a newborn – you know…"
When asked if things had been a struggle for her, a visibly upset Meghan responded yes.
"It's not enough to just survive something, that's not the point of life you've got to thrive, you've got to feel happy," the 38-year-old said. "I've really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip, I've really tried, but I think what that does internally is really damaging."
RELATED: 11 Panic Attack Symptoms You Might Not Expect
For more information about anxiety, please visit www.sane.org or call the SANE Helpline on 1800 187 263.
