Leah’s father died two years ago and she now lives with her mother. She has found the COVID-19 pandemic extremely frightening and is worried her mum will die and she will be left all alone.

Following the lockdown, Leah started experiencing episodes of chest pain, accompanied by rapid breathing and palpitations due to high levels of anxiety. She was also struggling to sleep, often getting only three hours a night. She had prolonged low moods and tearfulness.

Through weekly telephone check-ins our therapist aimed to help Leah gain some control over her feelings of stress, anxiety and panic.

When Leah started talking about her worries about her mother dying, our therapist explored how Leah’s loss of her father might be contributing to her anxieties. The therapist talked about responses to grief and how Leah’s anxieties were perfectly normal.

She then taught Leah breathing techniques and other strategies to calm herself, which Leah practiced with the therapist over the phone.

Leah is now coping far better and is more resilient to deal with the uncertainty COVID-19 has created. She is sleeping well, her mood has lifted and she no longer has episodes of tearfulness. Her mother got in touch to say:

“I want to express my huge gratitude for the unbelievable kindness you have shown by helping my daughter.

“I am so so thankful to you for helping us when we had nowhere else to turn. We will be forever grateful.”