John: I had panic attack in Tardis

8 October 2009 02:15pm

John Barrowman has opened up about suffering from panic attacks - saying he even had one in the Doctor Who Tardis.

The 42-year-old, who played Captain Jack Harkness in the BBC show and its spin-off Torchwood, said the attacks come and go.

He said: "Over the years, I've been on stage in the middle of a number and suffered a panic attack, been in the Tardis with the doctor and kept one at bay and, most recently, during my show in Oxford on my concert tour, I let one charge through my system while I sang on."

He continued: "They started happening about 10 years ago. It started with anxiety and worked its way into panic. My sister gets them, my mum gets them. It doesn't happen before a performance and is nothing to do with being nervous. Panic attacks come from nowhere.

"When they start to happen, you feel your left arm go numb and you think you're going to die, or you're having a heart attack. You think, 'I can't breathe, I'm sweating, my arm's numb, I'm going to have a heart attack'. The adrenaline is pumping massively.

"I've been told that panic attacks are often triggered for no reason, but agoraphobia or, in my case, mild claustrophobia can be a catalyst.

"I very rarely get them now because I've learned how to cope with them. Some of them are triggered if I'm breathing in a specific way and am not getting enough air into myself. And I get them when I fly sometimes."

:: I Am What I Am, by John Barrowman with Carole E Barrowman, is out now.

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