Kerry fears she’s a ‘burden’

Kerry Katona has opened up about her terrifying anxiety battle, admitting it’s so crippling she wants to “curl up and hide”.

The former Atomic Kitten star, 43, has been suffering a bout of panic attacks in recent weeks – explaining they’re so intense she feels like she’s going to die.

“I’ve always suffered from anxiety, but over the past couple of weeks it’s been really bad,” she told new. “I don’t know what has triggered it. I kept trying to ignore it, but then on Mother’s Day night it came to a head and I just broke down in tears.

“My throat was closing up and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The anxiety has stayed with me ever since. It’s been awful – it can be crippling. There are times where I don’t want to leave the house, but I force myself to. I feel like I just want to curl up and hide. It’s scary. I keep thinking, ‘What is going on with my body?’ I’ve been in tears saying, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I’m panicking that I’m going to die.’”

Kerry admits that it’s also taken a toll on her relationship with fiancé Ryan Mahoney.

“I feel like a burden on Ryan,” she said. “I feel like all I’m doing is crying and saying that I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s really hard to explain to people how I feel, but Ryan has been brilliant. He’s always supportive. I like to deal with things on my own, so I often take myself away and just have moments to myself.”

The reality star, who is mum to Molly, 22, and Lilly, 21, with first husband Brian McFadden, Heidi, 17, and Max, 15, from her marriage to Mark Croft, and DJ, who turns 10 this week, with her late ex-husband George Kay, added, “I worry I’m a burden on the kids too. If I’m taking them somewhere and the anxiety takes over my body, I feel like I’m letting them down.”

Kerry, who has bipolar disorder, has been open about her battles with mental health in the past. She wrote in her column