Big Brother star and This Morning host Alison Hammond has opened up about her battle with PTSD.
Alison said it all stemmed from years of intense bullying as a child and has even led to “heart palpitations” and near panic attacks.
And, she has admitted, that it’s all triggered by the word “elephant”.
What did Big Brother star Alison Hammond say about PTSD?
Opening up in a chat with The Mirror, Alison spoke about her bullying ordeal and its lasting effects.
She admitted that it “may sound crazy” but whenever she hears the word elephant it takes her “back to being at school and the nasty comments the boys used to make about me”.
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Alison admitted: “When I hear someone say elephant, I instantly think they must be talking about me. Anything to do with elephants sets it off.
“I remember it happening when I was on safari once. Some elephants came into view and I had heart palpitations because I was worried that someone was going to say: ‘Alison, look! An elephant, like you.’”
‘An elephant in the room’
Alison also revealed a heartbreaking moment at a party with her Big Brother pal Kate Lawler when she thought Queen star Brian May was making a comment about her.
She explained that they didn’t notice a band coming on stage to perform, and Brian asked the girls to stop chatting so he could hear the singers.
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Alison explained that they stopped talking after the telling off but that “things got worse” when the band finished their set.
She said he got up to make a speech and her blood ran cold.
“He started off by saying: ‘Now, there’s an elephant in the room, isn’t there?’ I had a full-on panic he was going to start embarrassing me in front of everybody,” she said.
However, Alison added that he was, in fact, speaking about something entirely different.
He later told Alison that “of course” he wasn’t talking about her.
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