The star revealed in a shaky post dealing with anxiety: "I felt the earth swallowing me, that I was drowning" • "It was the hardest year of my life", he wrote about the hard time, "I decided I was fighting, that bullets can always come back"

• "Slowly the anxiety began to pop up." Assi Azar

  Photo: 

  Daniel Kaminsky

On the screen he often smiles and jokes, but away from the camera lights - Asi Ezer revealed in a post he posted to Instagram yesterday - he faced anxiety that almost paralyzed him.

The post, which surfaced last night (Saturday) and has garnered more than 45,000 likes so far, describes at length the year-and-a-half-long journey that Asi experienced in trying to deal with severe anxieties he suffered, and possibly his and Albert's intimate photos circulated online several months ago. "This WhatsApp correspondence looks like another standard correspondence, but it's actually one of the most difficult and complex moments I've been through in my life," Ezer opened the post below a screenshot of his WhatsApp conversation with his psychologist.

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A post shared by Assi Azar (@assiazar) on Aug 29, 2020 at 11:30 am PDT

"Let's go back - I was on Ciprofloxacin for seven years due to anxiety attacks. A year and a half ago (during the Eurovision Song Contest) I started to feel that the pill was stopping.

"I started treatment with a new psychologist and asked her to accompany me through the process. I began to gradually get off the pill, and months and a half later I was already free of ciprofloxacin. I was happy, even euphoric, there was no sign of anxiety and vice versa, I was calm. For a while I was working on a third season to 'Be With Her', and every time I tried to write I felt it was bad and a feeling of panic filled my stomach. 

"It kept piling up until it peaked," Ezer revealed and then detailed the moment he realized the ground had almost slipped under his feet: "A year ago I was abroad with my husband, I got up early in the morning following a terrible jet lag, sat by the sea, tried to write and suddenly It happened - out of nowhere I felt the earth swallowing me, that something was wrong with me, that I was in trouble. I woke Albert up and told him I did not know what was happening to me. He did not understand what I wanted because from the outside I looked normal. Inside I felt like I was drowning.A classic anxiety attack. 

"This conversation you see here is the text I wrote to my psychologist during the seizure (which lasted a few days). Before I flew in she said that if I needed her I would just write to her, and I joked that 'if I write you a holiday as a very bad sight', and it will reward what happened." . 

At this point, Ezer said he did not know how long and complex the road to real treatment of the problem would be: "I did not know it then, but that damn morning abroad, I set out on a year-long journey where I learn to deal with anxiety, not panic, learn to live by it. . 

Despite the bumps in the road that have not yet completely disappeared, Ezer updated that he finally found the light: "A year later and let me tell you, that as my psychologist promised me - my condition has improved miraculously. I am without pills, and I live. I am me. And make no mistake, I still Sometimes suffers from anxiety and depression, but the frequency and intensity have dropped significantly. And I am already skilled. I know when to start and what to do when it comes (meditations, breathing, conversations with myself, with Albert and most importantly - psychotherapy! And also - take a sedative if necessary) .

"It was the hardest year of my life but probably also the most beautiful of all, because I learned a lot about myself in it, because I won it myself, and it was a battle. A good week for everyone (the post is not meant to encourage people to stop taking pills! But to help those dealing with anxiety. ..) ".

The post garnered, as mentioned, tens of thousands of likes and encouraging comments from surfers, including many of Ezer's industry friends. Gal Gadot responded with a heart (and won hundreds of likes herself), Ofer Schechter wrote: "Thank you for sharing", and Maya Busquila added: "Love. Brave as you are. Anxiety is really one of the hardest moments in life once it swallows you into it, so hard to get out. Glad you, me and other people have finally started talking about it and not letting people feel lonely in the world, as they felt until not so long ago. Important! ".

Omar Hazan and Lior Duak responded "World Champion" and "Love You". Other colleagues who supported included the singer Hanan Ben Ari, Liron Weizman, Nicole Reidman, Agam Rodberg, Noa Tishbi, Michael Lewis, Miri Michaeli, Static and more.