Anxiety and dealing with panic attacks

Anxiety is a gift from nature because it aids survival — none of us would live long if anxiety didn’t stop us from taking foolhardy risks! But, like anything else done to excess, too much anxiety can be problematic and become as disabling as any chronic physical illness.

Excessive fears and worry, panic attacks, phobias, obsessive-compulsive behaviours and post-traumatic stress reactions are all forms of out-of-control anxiety. If you suffer from one of these conditions, or if your days are blighted by continual low-grade anxiety, you may feel that your life will never be normal, as if something alien is in control of you.

There are three elements to anxiety

• the physical sensations you experience
• the emotions you have while experiencing them
• and the thoughts that go through your mind at the time.

However overwhelming high anxiety can feel, it is not something all-powerful and inexplicable. It can be managed very easily, when you know how.