Peter Andre opens up about his battle with panic attacks

Peter Andre has opened up about his battle with anxiety to encourage others to open up about their issues and seek help.

Peter is loved by his fans for his humour and his honesty. The proud father-of-four loves to show the fun side of family life on social media but he isn't afraid to open up about his struggles from time to time either.

In order to encourage other people to talk about their issues and seek help, Peter has spoken candidly about his battle with anxiety and the panic attacks he hid from his parents for fear they wouldn't understand.

Joining the Where's Your Head At? campaign, Peter told Heat magazine: 'I remember when I had my first panic attack, which was horrific… At the time, you think you are going to die.'

According to the NHS panic attacks are the result of having a panic disorder, which means you regularly encounter times when you are overwhelmed with panic or fear.

While everyone can and is likely to experience feelings of anxiety and panic at times, those with panic disorders can suffer with these feelings regularly, at any time and for no apparent reason.

Pete is often very positive on social media but it's important to remember everyone has their own private battles

Peter said: 'There is nothing anybody could tell you that is going to make you understand that you’re not going die from it. It’s just a fear. And I used to not know who to talk to: I couldn’t talk to my parents because they were so old school.'

Eventually Peter got professional help and said it was a relief to have someone explain what he was feeling and how he could combat it.

The TV presenter explained: 'I was really scared until I found that I had to talk to somebody who specialised in this for me to get it out my system. Once I started to understand what the problem was and the panic attacks were so regular – everyday – for years, I started to want to talk about it because it was the only way I could get better… It was the best thing I ever did.'

The Heat campaign wants to make it a legal requirement for every school and workplace to have a trained mental health first aider available so that people can seek help and advice as and when they need it.