Nadiya Hussain has come forward about the fact that she suffered from massive panic attacks while filming The Great British Bake Off.
The 34-year-old has revealed that she was too scared to go to the doctor for help as she thought she might get her kids taken from her.
She is mum to 10-year-old Musa, nine-year-old Dawud, and six-year-old Matyam with her husband Abdal.
She opened up about her mental health battles in a BBC One documentary.
She said, ''Some days it feels like the monster is so big and so huge and I can’t do anything because it’s so big. I can’t function, I can’t move.''
She revealed that she went to see a psychologist in Oxford.
She said, ''The fact that I’m sat here is quite a big deal for me. The only thing that really stopped me ever seeing a professional was the thought that somebody would say, “You’re crazy”, tie me up, stick me in a white van and take my children away.''
Nadiya also went on to say that the fact she doesn't have any friends doesn't help.
She said, ''I’ve stopped seeing any friends. I don’t have any friends anymore. I use so much of my energy on doing day to day stuff.’
The anxiety was a result of PTSD as Nadiya was subjected to horrific bullying at school.
She revealed, ''They would wait in corners and pull chunks of my hair out until it was bleeding and they slammed my fingers in doors and all of my nails eventually fell out because they were all black and blue. I think it was my last year of school and they flushed my head down the toilet.''
We applaud her bravery in coming out with her anxiety and the effects of it - the more of us that speak out, the less stigma there will be.
