A few years ago, my life came to a complete halt. I went from being a confident, successful, and outgoing person to a complete wreck, scared of my own shadow and unable to leave the house with crippling anxiety and panic dissorder.
This blog began as part of my recovery. I started sharing what I was going through with close friends and family on social media, and I was overwhelmed by how many people had experienced their own battles with anxiety and panic attacks.
At the time, I wasn’t well enough to help anyone else, but I kept sharing my journey, the struggles and victories. Now, as I continue to rebuild my life, I want to use what I’ve learned in my recovery to help others find hope, healing, and a way forward.
The following blogs detail my journey from my first panic attack to being diagnosed with severe anxiety and panic disorder and my journey to recovery.
When first diagnosed with anxiety I felt so lost and confused which made my suffering worse, I hope through blogging I'm able to share the lessons I've learnt along the way so that others can learn to recover too and know they are not alone.
Graeme Swatton Published on: 29/10/2025Anxiety and panic disorder has been the most difficult and hardest journey of my life, it has often felt very lonely, confusing and at times I've felt like I can't carry on and there was no chance of recovery.
Coming to terms with my anxiety and panic disorder and the start of my recovery journey.
Graeme SwattonWhen I was being surrounded by 6 foreigners in Parco Sempione in Milan, I could see them working in pairs trying to pin me in, coming from me from 3 sides. At first I didn't want to let them know I'd clocked them as I tried to work out my options, so I just walked slowly in the direction I was heading, scanning the area looking for escape routes, if I started running too early they'd catch me and I would be in trouble. escription
Graeme SwattonI started writing about my anxiety as a way to coach myself through it, but also to try and help others who might be suffering. Sometimes when I write I get energised by it and remind myself of everything I've overcome in the last 2 years, that I'm still standing and facing this thing head on, that it hasn't beaten me. Sometimes I need that reminder even more because it often still feels like s***, a little less s*** but s*** still the same!
Graeme SwattonBeing someone who’s always been goal oriented and a bit of a go getter, I’ve faced my fair share of challenges over the years. Whenever I hit an obstacle, I’d find a way around it, if something didn’t work, I’d try something else until it did. I’ve rarely given up on anything if I’ve wanted it badly enough. I’ve always believed that anything is possible when you put your mind to it.
Graeme SwattonThis is probably going to be quite a controversial post. I try and stay off social media these days but I like going on Twitter or X as it’s known now after watching the football to see all the fan reaction. I find it pretty entertaining but yesterday when I went on, my timeline was full of quite a controversial post about Anxiety with a lot of people sharing their very opinionated opinions. I must of seen about 30-40 retweets of people sharing their opinion on the topic.
Keep up to date with my latest blogs and follow my journey to full recovery from Anxiety and Panic Disorder.