Ellie Goulding reveals anxiety condition crippling her everyday life

Ellie Goulding has spoken out about the crippling anxiety she battles with every day. Photo / Getty Images

Ellie Goulding says her chronic anxiety is so severe she needs to “numb” herself.

The 35-year-old singer tells this week’s issue of Stellar Magazine she is overjoyed by the occasions she isn’t gripped by panic, but says she finds solace in music and exercise.

She said: “I get such chronic anxiety that in the rare moments I don’t have anxiety, I feel so happy and full of joy that I’m not having it.

”If I am in an anxious state, I don’t feel things. I numb myself to everything.

”But art can bring something positive out of you, especially if you rediscover an artist you love.

”Running (for fitness) was such a good way to ... honestly, I owe it to that to staying sort of relatively sane, I suppose.”

Ellie told in January on social media she has been struggling every day to control her anxiety after having her son Arthur Ever Winter in 2021 with husband, Caspar, who she married in August 2019.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by elliegoulding (@elliegoulding)

She said: “This year has also been the hardest of my life. I’ve struggled daily, nightly, hourly with a kind of panic I didn’t even know existed.

”While the moments of being on stage in front of all of you have been some of the most exhilarating and calming, this year I have been struggling.

”If I was to really think about it, my anxiety has dictated quite a lot of my life and career, and I feel sad about that.”

But it has also made me who I am, and sometimes at my most terrified when I feel there is no escape from the sheer panic and dread in my heart and brain, I remind myself that I can feel.

”I know so many of you reading this feel this same pain and at the same time so many of you won’t have experienced it, but will most likely know someone who has struggled.”

Where to get help

If it is an emergency and you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

For counselling and support

Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP)

Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)

Need to talk? Call or text 1737

Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202

For children and young people

Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234

What’s Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)

For help with specific issues

Alcohol and Drug Helpline: Call 0800 787 797

Anxiety Helpline: Call 0800 269 4389 (0800 ANXIETY)

OutLine: Call 0800 688 5463 (0800 OUTLINE) (6pm-9pm)

Safe to talk (sexual harm): Call 0800 044 334 or text 4334

All services are free and available 24/7 unless otherwise specified.

For more information and support, talk to your local doctor, hauora, community mental health team, or counselling service. The Mental Health Foundation has more helplines and service contacts on its website.