If you know the reason for your anxiety then you can take steps to deal with it so the experience calms down or becomes obsolete, but if you do not know the reason then it can leave you somewhat high and dry with no clues as to how to deal with it.

During the summer, a usually have a run of people coming to see me for anxiety around flying as they want less stress getting to their holiday destination or they wish to get to further away places. Then there are some that take it a step or two beyond that.

I would argue that every phobia is simply a fear of feeling afraid. A phobic reaction has nothing to do with the trigger itself. It is a fear of the feeling that you get when that trigger is there.

There are many phobias of completely harmless things. If someone has always experienced a fear reaction around buttons for example, buttons are dangerous. This is their reality.

…..so what is the difference between these different reactions. Germs, bacteria and viruses are not detectable to us without specialised equipment so how come some people feel more aware of them than others?

It all begins with an idea.