Los Angeles, June 23 :  Actress Emma Stone says she began having panic attacks when she was eight but with the help of therapy and her decision to pursue acting as a teen, she managed to work through it.

"I was just kind of immobilised by it. I did not want to go to my friends' houses or hang out with anybody, and nobody really understood," she reveals in the latest issue of Vogue magazine, reports eonline.com.

"Being on stage gave me a sense of purpose. I wanted to make people laugh. Comedy was my sport. It taught me how to roll with the punches. Failure is the exact same as success when it comes to comedy because it just keeps coming. It never stops," she said.

However, the 23-year-old says the occasional attack does happen from time to time, like while working on her most recent film, "The Amazing Spider-Man".

"I think I felt really out of control of my surroundings," she said.

© IANS