By Anthony Yeo, Life Lines

Q. The world is a crazy place to live in. There is the economic crisis, as well as diseases and the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai where a Singaporean was killed. I feel very anxious and each time I hear or read about any kind of disaster, I panic. I worry about my future a lot too. It is quite confusing for me. Am I suffering from anxiety?

- Jane Lee

A. I agree that our world seems to be an uncertain and unsafe place as we cannot avoid catastrophes.

It does seem there is a constant threat to our well-being. Worse still, we are often left with an intense feeling of helplessness as we do not have control over such incidents.

I suppose it is inevitable you should feel anxious. Perhaps such incidents have triggered memories of some disturbing incidents in your life.

Sometimes, events in the world which may not affect us directly can trigger flashbacks of our past crises.

This can happen even though we feel we have overcome the trauma. A flashback can be rather unpredictable and often intrudes our consciousness without any warning.

If flashbacks affect your daily life, try to identify them and acknowledge their effect on you. I would not recommend that you try to ignore, deny or suppress it. The more you do that, the more likely it is to remain in your mind.

It would also help to consciously recall the incident that had caused you distress, as you can then gain some control over the memory. If you intentionally recall, you can also gradually intentionally put away.

Then take time to restore calm with some breathing exercises.

To combat anxiety, it helps to control what you can. Learning to control your breathing is often easier than controlling external events. Do this until you feel relaxed and composed.

In your relaxed state, think about what is still safe and certain in your life.

Focus on what you have control over and meditate on this. Think about how you have often managed difficult situations in the past.

It would also help to identify soothing experiences, seek soothing objects for comfort and spend relaxing moments with family, relatives and friends. These can offer a safe environment for us.

You could also seek solace in your faith or any spiritual experience you are comfortable with. I know of people who find comfort in prayer.

Then, if you still experience anxiety, consult a doctor.

You may also wish to seek counselling for psychological healing.

Learning to reckon with an unpredictable, unsafe world can prepare us for possible mishaps.

Anthony Yeo, a consultant therapist at the Counselling and Care Centre, will answer questions from readers every fortnight. Write to suntimes@sph.com.sg with 'Life Lines' in the subject line.

This story was first published in thesundaytimes on Dec 14, 2008.