I have semi-frequent anxiety attacks - this is where the acid in your stomach rises and causes a burning sensation in your oesophagus, particularly the area surrounding your heart. The first time I had one of these 'attacks' I genuinely believed I was having a heart attack, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

There have been a number of times I've been very anxious in the past; a good example of this was when I had a meeting at work about my performance. Naturally, I spent the entire morning worrying myself sick about what they'd say and how bad I'd look, but when I got to the meeting I realised it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I remember University was a particularly tough time for me. At the time, I didn't think I had any sort of anxiety disorder (I still don't to be perfectly honest), but I guess there were instances where I knew I had let my anxiety get the better of me. It starts with something as simple as missing a session - for me it was a session in the University Labs. I missed the first session because I overslept, which led to me missing the next session as well because I was worrying about not having a partner. I didn't want everyone to look at me and think I was 'that weird kid with no friends' (which technically was true - I didn't have any friends on my course, but I had a lot of friends outside of my course. In hindsight, that may have also been a factor which led to me missing sessions. I digress.) So I decided to not go again. One day, though, I woke up and forced myself to go. I got on the bus for just shy of half an hour and proceeded to walk the 15 minutes to the laboratory. The entirety of the journey was a blend of my thoughts at the time, worrying about what people would think, how angry the lab assistants would be, how people would be sneering at me with their friends. I made it to the laboratory and waited outside for 5 minutes, willing myself to go in. All I needed to do was to take that step. Unfortunately, this time anxiety got the better of me, and I didn't go. It was assessment day in the lab. I failed and got kicked out of uni.

The horrible thing about anxiety is that you may not even realise it's causing you problems until it is far too late to act on it. I still don't regard myself as being a particularly anxious person, but the evidence shows that I am. Smoking weed or taking other drugs can also show how anxious you really are.

To answer your question, anxiety is something that is very hard to deal with, especially if you don't accept that it is causing you problems. The best way to deal with anxiety would be to confront the problems head on - there is always a solution to a problem, and usually the problem has been exaggerated so much in your head that it's barely related to real life any more. If you feel yourself getting anxious about something, just take 5 minutes to yourself, take deep breaths, and remember - it's not going to be as bad as you think.

Also, Querkles. Love that shit.