There is ample evidence concerning the burden of anxiety disorders. We clinicians know the personal distress of those suffering with panic attacks, severe phobias or obsessive–compulsive disorder, not to mention people living with stigmas of traumatic experiences. In addition to psychic pain, pathological anxiety severely affects the patient’s existence, causing a state of dependence which most often starts in early adulthood and has long-standing consequences, disrupting both family life and professional career. Anxiety disorders, in particular panic attacks, go along with various autonomic disturbances that trigger physical complaints and motivate medical procedures
