Miley Cyrus had a panic attack onstage last week proving that even the biggest of stars can suffer mental health issues like the rest of us.

As per Billboard, the singer appeared at Milwaukee’s Summerfest last Friday, September 17th. All was going well until Cyrus sensed the beginning signs of a panic attack. Commendably, she somehow managed to maintain a semblance of control, discussing what was happening to her with the audience.

“Like everyone else, for the last year and a half I’ve been locked away and isolated and it is very stunning to be back in a place that used to feel like second nature,” she explained onstage. “Being on stage used to feel like being at home, and it doesn’t anymore because of how much time I spent at home locked away. And this is very drastic.”

Cyrus continued: “Being caught up in the health crisis was startling and terrifying and coming out of it is also slightly terrifying. So I just wanted to be honest with how I’m feeling. Because I think by being honest about that, then it makes me less afraid.”

For anyone who’s gone through the suffocation of anxiety and panic attacks, Cyrus’s openness and vulnerability, particularly as she’s a person of power and renown, will be appreciated; more strong role models for mental health in the public eye are needed and such conversations as Cyrus’s last Friday need to be normalised.

And to her credit, Cyrus managed to complete her set, featuring stirring covers of Janis Joplin’s ‘Maybe’ and ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’. She even proclaimed the set as “the greatest concert in the world,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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Check out the video of Miley Cyrus discussing her panic attack below:

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