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“I’m actually going to need to stop for a second. Some of you may know that I occasionally get affected by some panic attacks, and actually that’s happening right now," Nate Byrne said.
Nate Byrne's moment of vulnerability on Australian television is resonating with viewers around the world.
A clip of the out gay meteorologist on Tuesday's broadcast of ABC News Breakfast recently went viral online, with commenters praising Byrne's transparency and resilience as he shared he was experiencing a panic attack live on-air.
“I’m actually going to need to stop for a second,” Byrne said during the broadcast. “Some of you may know that I occasionally get affected by some panic attacks, and actually that’s happening right now. Lisa, maybe I could hand back to you.”
The broadcast then cut to co-presenters Lisa Millar and Michael Rowland, with Millar seamlessly continuing the show while assuring Byrne and praising his openness. She cited a previous piece Byrne had written for the outlet about living with anxiety as a newscaster.
"You certainly can, Nate. Nate wrote a great piece on the ABC online website about this and I reckon we might re-up it, put it on our socials, so you can have a bit of a read because it’s fantastic that he has been so open and transparent about it," Millar said. "The response when he first wrote about it and spoke about it was that everyone said, ‘Oh thank god, Nate’s not perfect, we thought he was perfect, but actually he’s now sharing something.'"
Byrne's 2022 piece details the first time he experienced a panic attack, and how he sought mental health treatment that allows him to still participate in the profession he's passionate about. Byrne wrote at the time that he "had no idea about the complete lack of control you can sometimes have over your brain, nor the ways in which it can take over."
"I still occasionally have those feelings return – in fact, as I write, even remembering my experiences have raised my hackles a bit — but talking about my anxiety and seeking treatment mean that it's something I can live with and manage," he said.
Byrne later returned to the broadcast to chat with Millar and Rowland, apologizing in case he "gave anybody a bit of a scare" and thanking his colleagues for supporting him. Millar again assured him.
“You’ve been very honest before about getting panic attacks on air and it’s great for people to know that it can happen to anyone,” she said.
