Jayne had seen her GP on and off for 3-4 years complaining of numbness and tingling in her whole body, chest pain, chills and hot flushes, nausea, dizziness and a fear of dying.

She believed that she had a terminal illness that was not being diagnosed by the GP. She had had various physical tests and investigations which all proved non-conclusive. She had been prescribed beta blockers and anxiolytics by her GP before referral to mental health services.

She was assessed in primary care. This revealed a pattern of panic and anxiety which appeared to stem from early life experiences including: her grandmother dying and a time when she almost drowned in a local swimming pool. The therapist began with psycho-education, understanding and normalising anxiety. This was followed by a programme of graded exposure and re-socialisation. She was then referred to The Decider Skills Group.

"I learnt a lot from my therapist. She was supportive and understanding and helped me regain my confidence. The Decider Skills and the Graduate Group helped too. I was very nervous about attending the group but it was great fun and we didn’t have to speak if we didn’t want to. My husband helped me with my homework and he learnt the skills too! I'm back at work now and doing fine" Jayne

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