Elizabeth Olsen Reveals Why She Used To Have Panic Attacks 'Almost Every Hour'

Elizabeth Olsen is opening up about how debilitating her anxiety used to be.

In an interview with The Guardian published on Sunday, the Marvel star admitted that she used to have panic attacks daily in her 20s.

“Multiple times, like, almost every hour!” Elizabeth said, noting that tiny changes around her would often trigger them.

“It was literally, like, any time there was a shift in something: hot to cold, hungry to full. I thought, ‘Oh, is this OK?’ And then it would spiral and it just became this habit,” she shared.

The WandaVision star added that when she was younger, conversations regarding mental health weren’t as prevalent, and she had no idea how to deal with her physical response to anxiety.

“No one talked about panic attacks in the mid-2000s,” she recalled. “I thought it meant you just write a list and check things off and get over it.

“I didn’t realise it was something you had no control over, but I had to figure out how to have some control.”

Elizabethhe said that she finally got a handle on it when she figured “out what works for me, or what works enough”.

The Love & Death star explained that when she now feels an attack coming on, she has to “interrupt the thinking process”, by naming everything she saw in her head to disrupt the pattern. 

She also told the outlet she doesn’t wear heels because they made her feel like she’d get vertigo, which would bring on the anxiety. She explained that is why sometimes when she wears heels during public appearances, she takes them off as soon as she’s seated.

“People thought it was a feminist choice,” she recalled to the outlet. “Like, nah! If I wear them and I’m standing in front of you guys, I’m gonna panic. I’d rather have my feet on the ground.”

Elizabeth’s husband, musician Robbie Arnett, also has anxiety, and in 2022 they released a children’s book they co-wrote titled, Hattie Harmony: Worry Detective.

The book follows a cat named Hattie Harmony and teaches young readers how to deal with the condition. While promoting their second book, Hattie Harmony: Opening Night in 2023, she opened up to People about her struggles with panic attacks. 

“I absolutely thought something was medically wrong with me,” Elizabeth told the magazine at the time. “They’re pretty terrifying when they happen. I learned games to play in order to keep myself present and not spin.”

“We both wanted a Hattie when we were younger,” Robbie added at the time.  

Help and support:

• Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
• Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
• CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
• The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
• Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.