Rebecca Adlington needed months of therapy to beat panic attacks brought on by ‘fear of death’

Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington has revealed she has being receiving therapy to help her cope with panic attacks caused by fear ‘of death and the unknown’. 

The 30-year-old mother-of-one is a double Olympic champion, but said she has been forced to seek help since the beginning of the year. 

Ms Adlington said she has friends and family members who have all suffered mental health issues so she knew that she needed help. 

Rebecca Adlington, left, pictured with her new boyfriend, Andrew Parsons, right, at the Pride of Manchester Awards

Double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington, pictured with her daughter Summer, 4. The swimmer split with her husband Harry Needs, 26, when their daughter was six months old in 2016

She told The Mirror: ‘Mine is always to do with death and the unknown, and control and stuff. They started coming every week last summer. That’s when I decided to go to therapy. I still get panicky but I have not had a panic attack for months now.’ 

Ms Adlington split from her husband Harry Needs, 26, in 2016. She is now involved in a relationship with Andrew Parsons, 30. The pair met while Ms Adlington was with her friend on a hen do in Liverpool. 

She said: ‘We’re not getting married any time soon. We’ve been together a year and you speak to some people and they’re getting engaged after a year, and it’s very different for us.

‘We don’t live in the same city. He lives in Liverpool, so he lives an hour away from me (Manchester).’ 

Ms Adlington and her husband split when their daughter, Summer, four, was just six months old.