Why Kim Basinger Isn’t in the Spotlight Anymore

During Kim Basinger’s 2022 appearance on “Red Table Talk,” she opened up about her struggle with extreme anxiety, which manifested as agoraphobia. The condition took a significant turn one day while she was grocery shopping. “My basket was almost full, and I found something really overcoming me in such a way that I couldn’t breathe. So I left the basket, and I made it to my car, and that was the last time I drove for almost six, seven months,” she shared.

Her anxiety became so severe that she stopped leaving the house entirely. Even inviting friends over wasn’t a feasible solution. “We tried that, and it’s really horrible to feel that it won as really fiercely as [it] did during those years, you know, and not know what it was. It’s like something just completely shuts down within you, and you have to relearn everything,” she explained, adding that she had to relearn how to drive.

Agoraphobia had a profound impact on her both physically and mentally. “You live with a dry mouth all the time, you’re very shaky, you’re just so exhausted all the time,” she said. Eventually, she sought treatment, but initially, she was hesitant to share her struggles due to the fear of being stigmatized. “I was really scared because I didn’t want to tell anybody in my work what was happening,” she admitted.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter