Elizabeth Olsen’s struggles with anxiety and panic attacks didn’t begin until she was in her 20s, and even then, they were rare occurrences.

The WandaVision actress, who is 33 years old and has spoken up about her difficulties with mental illness in a recent interview with Variety, said that she first encountered these issues while she was living in New York at the age of 21. The actress shares that until she turned 21, she had no idea what anxiety or panic attacks were and that she had never experienced one of them.

Olsen recounted to the magazine that she would get “panic attacks” on the hour, every hour. “I remember that I would get them,” she said. “I once called the block of 13th Street located between 6th and 7th home. I was trying to cross 6th Avenue at 14th Street when I discovered I couldn’t do so; as I braced myself against the wall, I had the distinct impression that my life was about to end at any minute.”

“If I went from being chilly to being hot, or hot to being cold, full to being hungry, or hungry to being full — if there was any type of change in my body, my whole body would think, “Oh no, something is wrong!” And I simply began plummeting. It was quite peculiar, “She went on to say more. “Since everything was spinning so quickly, an ENT physician speculated that it may be connected to vertigo in some way. As a result, the last half year has been rather eventful.”

According to the Marvel actress, it wasn’t until she sought help from a friend and a medical professional that she was able to discover strategies to manage her anxiety and the continual sense that her world was spinning out of control.

“Because she suffered from panic attacks before I did, one of my friends was visiting a neuropsychiatrist or a psychologist; I’m not sure whether they were also medicating her. And picked up quite a few tricks for playing mental games, “Olsen provided some insight. “It was actually very similar to an acting exercise that we did at Atlantic. The activity is called repetition, and in it, you basically attempt to connect with the person in front of you while you are continually making observations about them. When I was walking down the street, I would simply start naming everything I saw out loud to distract myself from the thoughts that were racing through my head. This would help me break out of the mental loop.”

“That turned out to be a useful instrument. However, it eventually turned into a routine that helped me get through it “Additionally, she said. “I didn’t want to take any medicine, but I always made sure I had some on hand in case I thought I would need it in an urgent situation. Even just knowing that it was there made me feel relieved. It’s extremely strange, considering that I wasn’t an anxious youngster at all. I had a really strong and assured voice.”

Olsen has previously acknowledged the struggles she has had with her mental health, as well as how she overcame them by rediscovering her passion for physical activity.

“Even when I’m not working on a Marvel movie, one of my favorite things to do is train. My childhood activities included dancing ballet and playing volleyball at a very competitive level. Because maintaining your health and fitness is suddenly not a need for you to graduate college, I stopped doing anything “she revealed this information to the New York Times prior to mentioning the onset of her panic episodes.

The actress said that “keeping the emphasis off yourself” and working out were two of the ways that helped her get through it.

According to Olsen, “it was about that time that I discovered yoga to be incredibly beneficial, and it was also at that time that exercise became a significant component of my life.” After a strenuous exercise, I discovered that I was able to sit quietly by myself.