Valerie Bertinelli Posts 'Incredibly Vulnerable' Video: ‘Scary to Share’
"I'm posting because we’re all out here doing our best having a human experience and none of us want to feel like we’re alone in that," Bertinelli wrote on Instagram
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Valerie Bertinelli in 2024Valerie Bertinelli is sharing a "vulnerable" experience with her fans.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Nov. 17, the Food Network alum, 64, told her fans that she had experienced an anxiety attack.
"I’ve sat on this post for a day because it’s incredibly vulnerable and that’s always scary to share," the Valerie's Home Cooking host wrote. "But I’m posting because we’re all out here doing our best having a human experience and none of us want to feel like we’re alone in that."
Bertinelli — who recently split from boyfriend Mike Goodnough after 10 months of dating — then went into detail, explaining what happened. "So I don’t know if you can tell from this video (and my heart is still beating a little rapidly as I write this) I had a really bad anxiety attack today," she began.
"I haven’t had one like this in a very, very long time. A few hours ago, I was weeping uncontrollably, and my heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest. I couldn’t stop shaking," she continued.
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She said she was "taking a chance" sharing her experience, but wanted to because she's "pretty sure I’m not the only one out here who has experienced this."
"Gratefully these attacks have become much more infrequent, so this one took me a little bit by surprise today," she noted. "This is the after effect."
Bertinelli went on to explain how during an anxiety attack, she dissociates and is "focused solely on calming down and finding any road to a more relaxed and peaceful body."
She said she knows her brain is overthinking, but her body "goes into overdrive" and she's unable to control the situation. "Hours later, as I’m doing my best to meditate and EMDR [Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing] my way out of this, this is the after effect that I can’t quite seem to calm all the way yet," she continued, referring to a clip she shared of her hand shaking.
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Valerie Bertinelli in June 2024"Part of me is fascinated by what the human body is capable of when our feelings can get in the way or override any reasonable thought and another part of me is just curious on how all of this happens," Bertinelli continued, referring to "the weird neuropathies in our brain and how it affects our bodies, what feelings (which are just information btw) are and why are they so powerful that they make our body go into overdrive."
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She then asked her followers if she is the only one to experience these kinds of effects from anxiety attacks, along with what they find helpful to calm them down.
"Anyway…this little bit of vulnerability is brought to you by someone who wants you to know you’re not alone," she concluded her post. "Love you 🤍."
Bertinelli's candid Instagram post comes after she opened up to PEOPLE about the biggest change she noticed after she stopped drinking for six months.
"Even with life struggles and how life can be challenging, I find that it is easier to get myself clearer faster, about what I need to do and taking care of my life," she said in July. "I feel good when I wake up in the morning. I'm not groggy. I'm not tired. I'm not: ‘What did I do last night?' "
