As a trained counsellor, I have the capacity to self-assess myself. But much as most doctors would seek a diagnosis from another doctor, rather than themselves, so it is with me.

I can have a good guess at my own psychological disposition and in fact I have. But I can't properly work with myself - that requires another professional. Nevertheless, I have dragged out my books again and worked through more CBT exercises. To be honest, this is something I will have to do all my life, since anxiety is my lot and only constant revision enables me to manage it.

Last week my GP recommended that I take a small low-dose anxiety pill (Allegron) something which, until now, I have steadfastly resisted. In the same period I have been revising the theory and practice surrounding Core Beliefs, the bedrock beliefs we hold about ourselves and the world. It is the negative ones that I have been most concerned about. They inform our daily lives in a thousand different, insidious ways.

Changing them, finding more positive and realistic ways of being in the world, is my hope.