I was on my way to Gröna Lund today (a fair in Stockholm) with my family and a friend of ours, Debbie. We took the underground first, and then a bus. The bus was crammed with passengers, warm, and moving very slowly at times. About ten minutes into the journey I started to have feelings of discomfort. They became more pronounced until, a few minutes later, I had to descend the bus and walk to my destination.

I had just had the beginnings of a panic attack, something I hadn’t had for a long time. It has come out of the blue and it left me feeling slightly worried. I reckon this is a one-off attack brought on by the unusual situation I found myself in, but what if it is something more serious, more permanent?

NB I have just read that panic attacks are more common in people who have a pollen allergy. Interestingly, I am pretty certain that I have developed an allergy to pollen over the years, and I have had some pretty heavy allergy-like symptoms the previous days. Maybe my attack was not as unexpected as I thought.