Gisele Bndchen Reveals She Had Severe Panic Attacks During Her Modeling Career

Gisele Bündchen is challenging the myth that she's lived a picture-perfect supermodel life. In a new interview with People promoting her upcoming memoir, Lessons: My Path To a Meaningful Life, the runway legend opens up about struggling with mental health issues during her successful modeling career.

Bündchen, now 38, had her first panic attack on an airplane in 2003, which triggered her fear of enclosed spaces, she told People. “I had a wonderful position in my career, I was very close to my family, and I always considered myself a positive person, so I was really beating myself up," she said.

"I felt like I wasn’t allowed to feel bad. But I felt powerless. Your world becomes smaller and smaller, and you can’t breathe, which is the worst feeling I’ve ever had," she continued.

Bündchen added that she contemplated suicide after she started having panic attacks at home. “I actually had the feeling of, 'If I just jump off my balcony, this is going to end, and I never have to worry about this feeling of my world closing in,'" she said.

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Gisele feared becoming too dependent on medication, People reports, so she made drastic changes in her lifestyle, diet, and even personal relationships.

In one day, she gave up habits like "smoking cigarettes, drinking a bottle of wine and three mocha Frappucinos every day," she recalled. She also cut out sugar and took up yoga. She later broke up with boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio in 2005.

Bündchen, one of the world's highest-paid models, is now happily married to star quarterback Tom Brady and shares two children with him, but she decided it was time to "share some of my vulnerabilities" in her new memoir, which releases October 2. She told People, "Things can be looking perfect on the outside, but you have no idea what’s really going on."

If you or someone you know is exhibiting warning signs of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255).

Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she's listening to Lorde right now. 

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