Ireland Baldwin reveals she suffers from Cardiophobia – the fear of having a heart attack – which has sent her to the hospital several times.
The daughter of Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin made the reveal when on Red Table Talk on Facebook Watch with Jada Pinkett Smith and her daughter Willow Smith.
‘I have a fear of my own heartbeat,’ the model said. ‘When it starts getting really fast, even when I’m slightly nervous or if I exercise or anything, I start panicking to the point where I’m convinced, not matter what anyone says, that I’m going to have a heart attack and I have to go to a hospital.’
So much stress: Ireland Baldwin revealed she suffers from cardiophobia – the fear of having a heart attack – which has sent her to the hospital several times
Anxiety hurts: The daughter of Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin made the reveal when on Red Table Talk on Facebook with Willow Smith
She told Willow Smith, ‘I’ve had maybe over 20 hospital visits in my life.’
According to PubMed, cardiophobia is defined as an anxiety disorder of persons characterized by repeated complaints of chest pain and heart palpitations.
Also in her wide-ranging interview, Ireland said that she believes she would have been ‘dead for sure’ had her cousin Alaia Baldwin not stepped in during her darkest hours.
She also discussed her relationship with her father Alec Baldwin and admitted he was not the ideal person to turn to when it came to her anxiety.
‘She saved my life’: Baldwin believes she would have been ‘dead for sure’ had her cousin Alaia Baldwin not stepped in during her darkest hours
‘I’ve been through so much before I really got help,’ Ireland told Willow.
‘I was in a really abusive relationship and I did go to a treatment center. So I’ve been through a lot of different kinds of abuse, I have been in physical abusive relationships, and for so long I didn’t want to call, just like I didn’t want to call my anxiety anxiety, I didn’t want to call the forms of abuse I had been through in a lot of ways.’
‘I had been abusive to people. Unknowingly, because I’m not hitting them or I’m not getting physical, but there was a lot of learning I had to do and a lot of acceptance of “Okay wait, that was abusive behavior.”
‘I was an abuser towards someone else. But, at that time, I just hit a total breaking point,’ Ireland said.
‘And I was self-medicating with Xanax and I was drinking, and I have a lot of alcoholism and drug addiction in my family,’ Ireland explained.
‘I had a night where I went way too far with the drinking and taking pills ’cause I couldn’t even go to bed at night, I was so afraid of this relationship,’ she said.
‘When I went into this drug and alcohol treatment center, I learned that I didn’t have an addiction to a substance, but I have an addiction to wanting to fix people.
‘That’s my addiction. I’d fixate on anything until it shatters everything around me.’
‘That relationship had brought a lot of shady people into my life. I had isolated all of my real friends, isolated my family. I had no control in anything in my life. I tortured myself with my eating disorders that I had.
Family ties: Ireland pictured with her cousins Alaia (far left) and Hailey Baldwin (far right) in 2015
‘He can’t really sympathize as much with it’: She also discussed her relationship with her father Alec Baldwin and admitted he was not the ideal person to turn to when it came to her anxiety
‘She saved my life’: Ireland says her cousin Alaia was integral in pulling her out of it
‘I didn’t talk to my parents for like a year,’ she said. ‘I saw them here and there but I was so ashamed of what I had become and how I was living.
‘I just became this different person. I was like emaciated in every way. I was lifeless. And I don’t mean in a literal skinny way, but just my soul, everything was just shrunk.’
Ireland says it was her cousin Alaia who ‘saved’ her life.
Joint interview: Ireland was appearing on the program with her famous mother Kim Basinger
‘Alec operates in a very different way in his life’: Kim agreed her ex was not ‘available’ for such conversations
‘She was the one who booked the ticket from New York and came to L.A. to see me. She was like, “Something’s up. I sense something,”‘ Baldwin said.
‘She saved my life. I think I would have committed suicide, or I would have been dead for sure. I was so close. I could feel it getting to that point. And she saved my life. She pulled me out of it.’
Ireland, who was appearing on the program with her mother Kim Basinger, also discussed her relationship with her father.
‘It’s not his fault’: Ireland said her father was raised in a family that ‘suppressed’ their feelings or looked down on discussing them
The model explained she does not speak to her father about her mental health issues as he was not
Instead, she speaks with her mother Kim, who has struggled with agoraphobia.
‘She’s definitely my go-to person,’ she said. ‘She’s the one I call when I’m panicking… when it’s starting to build up.’
‘I was so ashamed’: Baldwin said she ‘didn’t talk to’ her parents Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger for a year
Ireland said her father was raised in a family that ‘suppressed’ their feelings or looked down on discussing them.
‘He can’t really sympathize as much with it, but it’s not his fault. But he’s gotten way better,’ she explained.
‘I think he really suppressed his anxiety up until recently,’ she added. ‘He’s really been dealing with things that kind of have been thrown at him. He’s been forced to finally deal with these things.’
Kim agreed her ex was not ‘available’ for such conversations.
‘We’re all fine, we all get along, whatever. But he’s a challenge. I mean, come on. We’ve had our challenges,’ she said. ‘I don’t think Alec was emotionally or mentally available for that kind of talk. Alec operates in a very different way in his life.’
Ireland has been open and honest with fans about her struggles.
She checked into SOBA Recovery Center in Malibu in 2015 for ’emotional trauma’ following a brief relationship with artist Angel Haze, 29.
A source told ET at the time: ‘Ireland has been through some stressful and negative situations in her life recently and has taken the proactive approach to getting things back on track.
‘Ireland has the full support of her family and friends who are extremely proud that she has taken matters into her own hands as the strong woman that she is.’
In 2020, she celebrated six years being eating disorder free.
‘Got a call from my old program yesterday… 6 years,’ she posted on Instagram.
‘Hi guys. I also wanted to announce that today is the 15th of August, and today marks six years that I have been free of anorexia and bulimia and all of my other food compulsion and eating disorders that I have struggled through for many years.’
Milestone: In 2020, Baldwin celebrated six years being eating disorder free
‘And today marks six years. So, you can do it,’ she concluded, before blowing a kiss into the camera.
Ireland’s life definitely is on the upswing nowadays. On Monday, she announced she and her boyfriend RAC were opening a shop/wine bar in Gearhart, Oregon.
‘Announcement time ❤️�� @rac and I are… drumroll… shop/wine bar owners! @goodtimes !!!!!’ she posted to Instagram. ‘Ahhhh!! Several months ago, we bought an ice cream shop and store. We are opening a coffee shop, tapas, craft beer and wine bar out in Gearhart, Oregon! Next door, we are opening a boutique with so many incredible brands and curated finds.
‘We are so thrilled to take you along the journey!! I can’t believe it!!!!’
Big news! The actress was thrilled to announce she and her boyfriend RAC were opening a shop/wine bar in Oregon
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