Q I have suffered from panic attacks for many years and it is starting to ruin my life. Do you have any advice?

A Severe anxiety and panic attacks blight the lives of many people of all ages and types. The worst cases can lead to agarophobia or other crippling effects and are very sad because the anxieties and fears which cause so much trouble are usually groundless.

The truth is that very often something about our upbringing, or even something which happened to us during birth or as very tiny babies, can leave us with problems which we just don't understand and can't shake off.

Professional help is important and your GP should be able to point you towards psychological help. Alternatively, you could seek your own counselling or psychotherapy to try to find the underlying problem and work out what to do about it.

I always recommend that people work hard at the basics to make themselves as fit as possible to take on the challenge of getting well again.

So a very healthy diet, giving up caffeine and high sugar content foods and regular exercise really help.

Give up smoking - it makes people more prone to anxiety and panic attacks. Try learning to relax. Deep breathing is important in the treatment of panic. The the most useful self-help measure is learning to meditate and a lot of research shows the enormous benefits of deep relaxation for this condition.