--- title: Gisele Bundchen Considered Suicide Because of Panic Attacks description: Supermodel Gisele Bundchen revealed that she once suffered from anxiety so severe that she considered committing suicide. canonical: https://time.com/5407013/gisele-bundchen-on-panick-attacks-suicide/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-26T16:55:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:55:06.903Z og:title: Gisele Bundchen Once Considered Suicide Because of Anxiety og:description: "I felt powerless" og:url: https://time.com/5407013/gisele-bundchen-on-panick-attacks-suicide/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc12f69fe0e180508/69893b2a4ee26200b9312f4c/gisele-bundchen-talks-panic-attacks-suicide-attempt.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gisele Bundchen Once Considered Suicide Because of Anxiety twitter:description: "I felt powerless" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc12f69fe0e180508/69893b2a4ee26200b9312f4c/gisele-bundchen-talks-panic-attacks-suicide-attempt.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gisele Bündchen Says She Once Battled Panic Attacks So Severe She Considered Suicide  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 26, 2018 4:55 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - MAY 07: Gisele Bundchen attends "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & the Catholic Imagination", the 2018 Costume Institute Benefit at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - MAY 07: Gisele Bundchen attends "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & the Catholic Imagination", the 2018 Costume Institute Benefit at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)Taylor Hill—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 26, 2018 4:55 PM UTC Supermodel [Gisele Bündchen](http://time.com/3824243/gisele-bundchen-retire-model/) has revealed in her new memoir, _Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life_, that she suffered from terrifying panic attacks and anxiety so severe that she contemplated committing suicide. In an interview with [_People_](https://people.com/books/gisele-bundchen-panic-attacks-considered-suicide-book/), Bündchen shared that although “things can be looking perfect on the outside, \[but\] you have no idea what’s really going on.” While Bündchen’s rise in the late ’90s as one of the most in-demand supermodels brought her plenty of success and accolades, she also developed anxiety and experienced her first panic attack in 2003, something she says she felt guilty for. “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,” Bündchen said. “Like, ‘Why should _I_ be feeling this?’ 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.” As the panic attacks increased, happening even when she was at home, Bündchen explains she considered suicide. “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. While she was initially prescribed Xanax for her anxiety, Bündchen worked with doctors to make healthy lifestyle changes, like cutting out sugar and starting yoga and meditation. “I had been smoking cigarettes, drinking a bottle of wine and three mocha Frappucinos every day, and I gave up everything in one day,” she said. “I thought, if this stuff is in any way the cause of this pain in my life, it’s gotta go.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5407013/gisele-bundchen-on-panick-attacks-suicide/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5407013/gisele-bundchen-on-panick-attacks-suicide/"},"headline":"Gisele Bündchen Says She Once Battled Panic Attacks So Severe She Considered Suicide","datePublished":"2018-09-26T16:55:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:06.903Z","description":"\"I felt powerless\"","url":"https://time.com/5407013/gisele-bundchen-on-panick-attacks-suicide/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc12f69fe0e180508/69893b2a4ee26200b9312f4c/gisele-bundchen-talks-panic-attacks-suicide-attempt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc12f69fe0e180508/69893b2a4ee26200b9312f4c/gisele-bundchen-talks-panic-attacks-suicide-attempt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala","caption":"Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala","creditText":"Taylor Hill—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5407013/gisele-bundchen-on-panick-attacks-suicide/","name":"Gisele Bündchen Says She Once Battled Panic Attacks So Severe She Considered Suicide"}}]}] ```