A CHESTER woman who suffered from panic attacks for 27 years says specialist treatment has helped to turn her life around.
Alexis Prior, 43, began suffering from anxiety and panic attacks aged 16 and her first paralysing panic attack happened while she was in a coffee shop with friends.
She said the attacks affected her social life and work and impacted on her daily routine.
“I was having panic attacks in shop queues and in social situations and this really impacted on my life in my late teens and early twenties, especially at university,” said Alexis.
“I had to plan my visits to shops either at the start or end of the day when it was quiet, and I needed ‘Dutch courage’ before I went out socially.”
Alexis continued to suffer from panic attacks and feared they would remain with her for the rest of her life.
But she read an article in a magazine about The Linden Method, an organisation that works non-medicinally to eliminate anxiety.
Alexis said: “I contacted a Linden Method Specialist and for the first time in 27 years what I was hearing gave me hope. Maybe I didn’t have to be defined by my panic attacks and maybe, just maybe I could be free.’
She went to a Linden Method anxiety recovery retreat in Worcestershire and said the experience made a “massive change” to her life.
She said: “I have completed my training to become a nutritional therapist and have since done four group presentations without even a glimmer of panic.”
Alexis has since started her own business and said: “Since leaving the retreat I feel like my life has turned a massive corner and now there is no limit to what I can achieve.
“On a daily basis, my anxiety is notable only by its absence. My business is moving forward and I am excited about my future and the challenges that lie ahead.”