Gisele Bündchen is famously private about her personal life, but now the model is opening up about past suicidal thoughts in a new memoir called Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life. In an excerpt from the book (which is out October 2) published by Page Six, Bündchen reveals some of the difficult issues she’s faced, including claustrophobia, panic attacks, suicidal ideation and medication.
"It felt like everything in my life was going to kill me," explained the model in her new book. "First it was the airplanes, then elevators. Then it was tunnels and hotels and modelling studios and cars. Now it was my own apartment. Everything had become a cage, and I was the animal trapped inside, panting for air. I couldn’t see a way out, and I couldn’t stand another day of feeling this way." As a result of these panic attacks, Bündchen says she started thinking about committing suicide. "The idea swept over me: Maybe it will be easier if I just jump. It will be all over. I can get out of this. When I think back on that moment, and that 23-year-old girl, I want to cry. I want to tell her that everything will be all right, that she hasn’t even begun to live her life. But in that moment, the only answer seemed to be to jump."
Thankfully, Gisele decided to get help but didn't want to rely on medication to solve her issues. It was then she underwent a lifestyle overhaul, looking at her diet and aspects of her life that might have been causing stress. In a single day she curbed all her bad habits, cut out sugar and started practicing yoga and meditation to help combat her stress.
While the model's story might seem surprising given her successful career, the truth is suicide is on the rise and it doesn’t discriminate. In fact, earlier this year fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain both took their lives as a result of mental health issues. According to a 2017 report from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle, suicide rates in the Middle East are up 100% to 30,000 in the past 25 years. In other parts of the world during the same period, the number of deaths from suicide increased 19%. It’s said this increase is a result of mental health problems and intrapersonal violence fuelled by traumatic effects of conflict.
The study also noted an increase in mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorders in the region, and a severe shortage in mental health professionals such as counsellors and psychiatrists. The majority of countries have only 0.5 psychiatrists for every 100,000 people. By comparison, Europe has more than 40 per 100,000.
Unfortunately deaths like Bourdain’s and Spade’s can be a negative trigger for people dealing with depression and anxiety. While every story is different, Bündchen’s honesty is hugely important and empowering as it allows those struggling with mental health issues to see it’s something everyone (even celebrities) go through and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, they can get through it with help.
