The main mistake people make when they are trying to start understanding anxiety is they become impatient. We all want to be better today, not tomorrow. That is why we go from one treatment to another, desperate for something to make this awful thing go away.

The truth is there is no overnight miracle cure for anxiety. If there were, we would all know about it and someone would be very rich. When I was told this for the first time, it was such a relief to me because I thought that I had to keep searching for that elusive cure that would make me feel better instantly. Once on the right road and with the correct information though things will become a lot easier, once you not only realise why you feel the way you do, but also what is keeping you in the cycle of anxiety and panic.

The trouble with understanding anxiety is fears begin to build and this is why it is so important to have a better understanding and an explanation of why you feel like you do. In my case the more I understood the easier things got. I also learnt that I had been doing everything wrong. I was fighting my symptoms, I was anxious because I was anxious, I was running away from how I felt, everything I was doing was just adding to my feelings of anxiety. I was spending every day questioning how I felt, thrashing my mind, because I just did not understand why I felt like I did and having no idea how to make myself feel better. Every day just seemed like a daily battle with myself. When we don't understand why we feel like we do, we have nothing left to do but to try and figure it all out ourselves. This is the reason we feel unable to detach ourselves from our thoughts and how we feel; the constant thinking eventually tires our mind and is the reason we feel so emotionally spent and fatigued.

The first time we feel anxiety is in most cases due to a period of stress and worry that builds up over time. Our body can take so much then it just says 'enough is enough' it cannot take the stress and worry any longer. Your body needs a time out, but it does not get one because the way you feel now scares you, you worry about how you feel, you may think you are going mad, you go from one doctor to another trying to get answers to how you feel, all this worry and stress adds even more stress to your already tired body, your symptoms persist and in many cases become worse, so you worry even more. This was me and was exactly the reason I spent years getting worse and not better, I was basically in the full anxiety cycle.

The knowledge I gained through and beyond my recovery made me want to share what I know and stop others suffering through lack of understanding and incorrect information, this is why I went on to write my anxiety book on the subject entitled 'At Last a Life'. My anxiety book continues to get very good feedback and was written to give people the answers that so far have eluded them. So many people who have read it say it has changed their life and it is something I am very proud of. I have also received some lovely emails from many people who have read my book, thanking me and also asking me to never stop helping other sufferers.  I have attached a couple of these emails below. Both emails are genuine and have the permission of the sender to be published.

	Good Morning Paul, I have read and re-read your book. I can’t even begin to tell you how it has changed my life. It has truly freed me from the bondage of fear. It is quite obvious you also sufferered, as you speak from a sufferers perspective. It is absolutely incredible how, after only a week after reading 'At Last a Life' I already feel a difference and I have new hope, this alone has re-instituted faith into a body that had all but lost any hope. For that I can’t thank you enough! God Bless your Work. Every single page explains my condition, but perhaps more importantly I now feel I have hope in recovering. I haven’t felt that for over ten long years. THANK YOU!!!!!! Dustin M.Couzens

 I chose the title "AT LAST A LIFE" because it summed up recovery for me. I spent 6 months writing this book, as I wanted it to be just right. Not only did I want it to give you a full understanding of anxiety and panic, but also why you feel like you do and what is keeping you in the cycle, I also wanted it to come from someone who had been actually been through it, someone who could relate to how you are feeling. If anyone asks me what the most important thing is in reaching recovery, I say 'understanding'. Understanding anxiety is so important, it takes away so much fear out of how you feel and fear of your condition is the very thing that keeps it alive. The main reason people continue to suffer is because they are bewildered and don't understand why they feel like they do.