Dr Punam Krishan: ‘We’re chasing ‘perfect’ – and it’s destroying us’

I had a patient recently – let’s call her Fiona*.

‘Fiona’, a professional woman in her mid 30’s, walked into my GP surgery in floods of tears. I just about managed to make out the words “I can’t do it anymore”, repeated again and again between hyperventilating sobs. I’d checked Fiona’s medical records before seeing her and she was someone who rarely attended our surgery. She’s a mother of two and otherwise fit and healthy – but in front of me, I could see a woman having a real breakdown.

Fiona is far from alone. Anxiety attacks have sadly become a common phenomenon of modern day living, with 'overwhelm' now a dominating feeling felt by most people sometimes and, increasingly, by some people all of the time.