Forty-three-year-old father of one Anthony was happily married and doing a job he enjoyed when he began experiencing panic attacks “out of nowhere.” They could happen anywhere—in the supermarket, on the train to work, even in the garden at home—day or night. He had seen a psychotherapist, but it hadn’t helped.
“She was really nice, but we couldn’t find anything that I was seriously unhappy or anxious about,” he said.
Then Anthony tried cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It had certainly helped him to manage the overwhelming anxiety that gripped him on these occasions, anxiety that seemed to not be about anything in particular. The CBT psychologist had taught Anthony some breathing and “self-talk” techniques that helped him calm down somewhat through these episodes and to sense when a panic attack was about
