- An influencer has shared a video of herself having a panic attack which began when she was already filming.
- Kharina Kharuddin posted the footage on Instagram in a bid to raise awareness about mental health issues.
- It has since gone viral, with many people praising the 21-year-old.
- She told INSIDER she wants “to remind people that social media is not an accurate representation of real life.”
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories.
An Instagram influencer is being praised for sharing a video of herself having a panic attack on the social media platform.
Malaysian-American actress and model Kharina Kharuddin, who has more than 95,000 followers on the social network, posted the clip on Tuesday, and it has now been viewed more than 225,000 times.
The video, which was captured because Kharuddin, 21, was already being filmed when the attack began, shows Kharuddin struggling to breathe and being calmed down by her mother.
“I can’t feel my arms,” she says. “I’ve never felt like this before.”
She continues: "My mouth is tight, I can't move."
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Many people praised Kharuddin for sharing the raw video in the comments.
"Thank you for posting this. I myself have anxiety and knowing I'm not alone helps heaps," wrote one person.
"This means a lot for us who have anxiety, and for those who don't have it now they know what we're experiencing," added another.
Kharuddin explained to INSIDER that she decided to share the video because it's not often we see people having panic attacks, and especially not on Instagram.
"I decided to post this video because it's not everyday that someone catches a moment like this on camera," she said.
"I have always advocated for mental health awareness but this was the first time I could really show people how important it is to understand and educate themselves about it, as many people still do not understand or are not exposed to mental health issues and in fact belittle them."
Although the post is certainly different to Kharuddin's usual Instagram content - mainly glossy, glamorous, happy travel pictures - she wasn't nervous to post it.
Read more: Instagram influencers are hiring life coaches to help them deal with the pressures of the platform
"I am someone who doesn't take things too seriously and so I didn't really care what people would say because I knew I was doing it for the right reasons," she said.
But she never imagined the reaction would be as huge as it has been.
"I was hoping that the response would be positive, but I could have never imagined it to turn out like this," Kharuddin said. "I actually cannot believe the amount of love and awareness it has spread not only in Malaysia but worldwide!"
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The aspiring actor believes it's important that influencers don't fall into the trap of only showing their highlights reel, rather than reality.
"You definitely try and want to make your life look as good as you can," she said.
"But that's why as much as I might Photoshop a picture or post the good, I do post stories with me bare-faced and looking horrible in the morning or videos like this occasionally to remind people that social media is not an accurate representation of real life and that as hard as it is, we need to try not to compare lives with those online because you only see what they want you to see.
"So I'm not surprised people only show the good, and I don't blame them for not posting the bad as no one wants to highlight their bad moments however we do need to remember that and not just always assume that someone has that 'perfect' life just because they make it out to be that way online, which was another reason I shared my video as well, to remind people of that."