Meghan Trainor Breaks Silence On Panic Disorder Diagnosis

Meghan Trainor is getting real about her debilitating mental health battles.

The Grammy-winning musician opened up for the first time about living with panic disorder and suffering from unexpected panic attacks. In a new interview with PEOPLE, Trainor recalls what she experienced leading up to her diagnosis and how the surgeries she underwent in 2017 to repair her vocal chords triggered her anxiety, not realizing she was in a state of panic.

“I was working really hard, and I kept having to cancel tours. I was like, ‘This is all I have, this is my life — if I can’t sing, I can’t work,” Trainor shared. “It turned into a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of scary panic. I went to the emergency room a couple of times because I thought my throat was closing from an allergic reaction, and the doctor was like, ‘This is a panic attack.’”

According to Mayo Clinic, panic attacks are defined as “a sudden episode of intense fear that triggers severe physical reaction when there is no real danger or apparent cause.” The 26-year-old, who has since found solace in the help of mental health professionals and medicine, said: “I met a psychologist who gave me medicine; I had therapists; I worked out; I got acupuncture. Now it’s been a couple years, and I haven’t had a panic attack in so long I feel like I conquered it. I kicked some a—.”

Joining stars like Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, Trainor hopes her story will encourage others to share their own. Although the “Nice to Meet Ya” songbird realizes “there’s still that stigma” about mental health and seeking help, she says, “The best thing my doctor ever told me was, ‘You use an inhaler for your lungs, right? Why can’t you use medicine to fix your brain?’ That’s what got my parents to understand what was happening with me.”

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