Kendall Jenner responds to critics who say her ‘privilege’ exempts her from having anxiety

Supermodel says anxiety has previously made her feel like she is ‘dying’

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Saturday 08 May 2021 16:05 EDT
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Kendall Jenner: My anxiety has put me in hospital before

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Kendall Jenner has opened up about her ongoing mental health struggles while addressing critics who claim she cannot have anxiety because of her privilege.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star discussed her experience with anxiety during a new video series with Vogue, where she revealed that there have been times where she feels like she needs to go to the hospital because she can’t breathe.

“I’ve had times where I feel like I need to be rushed to the hospital because I think that my heart is failing and I can’t breathe and I need, like, someone to help me,” Jenner said. “Sometimes I think I’m dying. Sometimes parts of my body will go numb.

“And it can be really intense and scary.”

During the video, the 25-year-old also acknowledged that there will always be some people who believe that she cannot struggle with her mental health because of her “privileged, amazing lifestyle,” with Jenner pointing out that that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have bad days too.

“There is going to be those people that say: ‘Oh, OK, what does she have to worry about? What does she have to be anxious about?’” she said. “I’ll never sit here and say that I’m not fortunate. I know I live a very privileged, amazing lifestyle – I’m a very blessed girl.”

The supermodel then pointed to her head, adding: “I still have one of these. And that thing up there sometimes, doesn’t always, I don’t know, it’s not always happy and it’s not always connecting.”

Jenner concluded her thought by reminding critics that she is still a “human being” and that she experiences the same emotions as everyone else.

“No matter what someone has or doesn’t have, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have real life feelings and emotions,” she added.

This is not the first time that the reality star has opened up about her mental health, as she previously revealed that she was experiencing a lot of highs and lows during lockdown.

Speaking with fashion designer Kenneth Cole and the Mental Health Coalition in May as part of an initiative to combat the stigma around mental health, Jenner said that there were days that she would experience anxiety and that her bad days “aren’t the greatest”.

At the time, Jenner said that she relied on various techniques to calm herself down, including reading, meditating or sitting outside.

During lockdown, there has been an increase in anxiety with one report finding that four in 10 adults in the US have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder.

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