The 'official' 'unofficial' description of Anxiety is a disorder in which the individual afflicted feels an intense, irrational fear and an impending sense of doom or dread.

This is the very time when someone is likely to have their first panic attack, or some other symptom of Anxiety. It is possible to come back from the black hole of Anxiety. Am I being objective? Some people find it hard to get enough sleep because their mind is racing and their body on full alert. Anxiety can strike both the confident and unconfident, but almost always it has the effect of destroying whatever self-confidence the person had. Be honest, only you will ever see the diary. Catastrophising If anything goes wrong Ill never live it down. Yes I will. You can start by cutting down on the number of times you repeat a compulsion, or by increasing the time between exposure and starting the ritual. How hard is it to face every day knowing that you might have a panic attack, or that your phobia will haunt you, or your OCD will dominate every moment? I still do it - I have a problem going beyond my comfort zone. I tried exposure when I was 17, in hospital. Panic attacks A panic attack is a sudden surge of Anxiety, usually short-lived but very intense. Typical all-or-nothing thoughts are: I must be 100% right or Im a failure. I got one thing wrong and that ruined everything. Ways of countering extreme thinking As you can see there is quite a lot of overlap between these four categories, and its likely that youll identify yourself as doing more than one type of extreme thinking. For these people its not just a question of confidence, but of self-esteem. Repeat two and three several times until you feel your chest relax. I have to see the teacher for ten minutes on Tuesday but I cant go because Ill have a panic attack. One minute, more or less happily living your life, the next, terrified and distraught, struggling to breathe perhaps, convinced you are dying, or that someone else will die and it will all be your fault. At one time I exercised too much and it made me ill, but it helps to go for a run or a walk to take my mind off anxious thoughts. If you prefer a little light thats fine. Even going on holiday or preparing for Christmas can involve a measure of anxiety. Or try the words of a song, and walk along to the rhythm of it.