Dennis Van Tine/Geisler-Fotopres/picture-alliance/Cover Images
No amount of celebrity or money makes someone immune from anxiety, especially after experiencing a traumatic event.
Kim Kardashian has been candid about her mental health struggles after she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, speaking out in interviews about how difficult it is for her to feel safe and how much her anxiety has worsened in the months following.
“My whole life has changed,” she told Ellen DeGeneres in an interview. “I never thought I would need security staying outside of my door. I should have had a security guard outside of my door. Now I have several just for me to be able to sleep at night.”
In a preview for an upcoming episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Kim allows cameras to capture her in the midst of a panic attack.
In the clip, she is on vacation in Mexico with friends, and she calls her friend who owns this house.
“Are you sure it’s safe here?” she asks, breaking into tears. “Why did I come, you know?”
Then, in an interview segment, Kim opens up about her anxiety.
“Ever since Paris, I just go through this worst case scenario mode in my head. I was so excited to come on this trip and I had no idea that I was gonna end up feeling this way.”
While many dismiss her for her privilege and money, Kim’s problems are as real and valid as anyone else’s. She suffered through a deeply traumatic event, and in allowing cameras to capture and air her panic attack, Kim is helping to normalize anxiety and to dismiss the stigma surrounding panic attacks.
Panic attacks can be startling and unexpected and arise suddenly even when in a relaxing setting, like on vacation. In reaching out to a friend for consolation and airing the segment, Kim is both showing that it’s okay to ask for help when experiencing panic attacks and helping to overcome the overwhelming stigma surrounding a common anxiety disorder.
She didn’t have to film herself and subject herself to cameras during such a vulnerable moment — but in doing so she is using her platform for good, and we applaud her for that.
