Gisele Bundchen revealed that, at one point in her life, she struggled with panic attacks that got so bad, she contemplated jumping off the balcony of her ninth-floor apartment.
“That was definitely rock bottom for me,” the 38-year-old supermodel shared Tuesday during her appearance on “Good Morning America” as she got emotional reliving that time in her life while promoting her new book “Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life.”
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Bundchen explained that it all started after a flight she took in a small airplane in Costa Rica didn’t go smoothly where the plane was “shaking like a little leaf,” leaving her feeling powerless.
“It started this kind of fear of being in small spaces,” the model explained. “So, it started with a little plane ride but then it became like, tunnels, subways, elevators … My world just kept getting smaller and smaller.”
“The reason I wanted to share these stories that, to me, are very private and very … puts me in a very vulnerable position, in a way…” she added while wiping tears from her eyes. “Is because I know that a lot of people [hope] that people don’t feel alone.”
Bundchen continued, “It was like I was trapped, and I couldn’t breathe, even from outside my own balcony. From that moment on, I realized my life needed to change.”
“Somebody told me a quote that I thought was fantastic one time: ‘The mind is an instrument. Don’t let it play you,'” the wife of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady shared. “He’s very calm and very centered.”
“And I feel like, you know, I’m very emotional and very changeable,” she added. “What I’ve learned from him is to kind of take a breath.”
She continued sharing how she feels protective over her husband, which has led to her public comments about when he’s going to retire from the game.
“I’ve never seen someone love something as much as he loves football, and it makes me happy,” Bundchen said. “If I said anything in the past it’s because … you have a concern.”
“I’m like, you know, no one is going to hurt someone I love,” she added. “You know? You just feel very protective of them. So, obviously, if someone hurts my children, my husband, anyone I love, I get like a lioness.”