Ellie Goulding had to revisit her childhood to beat her panic attacks.
The 27-year-old star – who this week was named Best British Female at the BRIT Awards – suffered from anxiety which prevented her from living a normal life, so she underwent Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which forced her to face her past, to tackle the issues she was facing.
She explained to LOOK magazine: "[Having the attacks] was the weirdest time of my life. Horrible things would go through my mind, but I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I got to the point where I couldn’t even get into the car and go to the studio. Then I went to see an amazing woman to have CBT and she flushed everything out. It took going back to my childhood, but the attacks slowly stopped."
The ‘Burn’ singer – who has one brother and two sisters – was just five years old when her her dad, Arthur, walked out on her family and she and her siblings were raised by their mother Tracey.
Since the therapy, Ellie – who is reportedly dating McBusted bassist Dougie Poynter – now feels stronger than ever as a person.
She added: "My confidence has grown in the past year as a woman. I’m strong in more ways than one at the moment."