Randy Orton Opens Up About Severe Anxiety and Panic Attacks During Injury Layoff – WWE superstar Randy Orton spoke candidly about his battle with anxiety and panic attacks during an extended injury break in a recent episode of the What’s Your Story? with Steph McMahon podcast. Orton revealed how his spinal fusion surgery and time away from wrestling deeply affected his mental health.
Orton shared the emotional toll the injury had on his sense of self. “Here’s my identity. This is who I am… the one thing I know that I’m good at and I get respect for, and I can’t do it anymore,” he recalled. “And for like, six months, I was under the impression that that was it… I got to like, a dark place.”
He described the anxiety symptoms that emerged, including panic attacks and difficulty flying or even lying down to sleep. “I was having like, panic attacks,” Orton said. “It started to become hard to fly. Started to become hard to stay in another bed, and I would be, like, up all night… trying to go to bed at night and then not being able to lay down in bed, because my mind would start going… then all of a sudden I’d get, like, hot, and I’d have to get out of bed… walking around our yard, just like, taking deep breaths.”
Orton also revealed that he hid much of his struggle, even from his children, explaining, “There was times where… I’d be with my kids… and I’m, I’m like, going through kind of like, I guess, an episode or something… and I’m hiding. You don’t want her to see… because I’m her big, strong dad.”
He was prescribed SSRIs to help manage his anxiety and depression but has been off the medication for six months and is feeling like himself again. “I just, I didn’t know if I could do this job anymore,” Orton admitted. “I really feel like I’m in like, a good place… it’s kind of therapy to talk about it now.”
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Randy Orton Opens Up About Severe Anxiety and Panic Attacks During Injury Layoff
