The first time Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett had a panic attack, she genuinely thought she was dying. And unless you've had one, it's hard to grasp just how physical the symptoms get - the pounding heart, the shortness of breath, the dizziness, the chest pain, the nausea. When they became frequent, she'd often have to go to bed to sleep them off, her body utterly spent from the strain of sheer, corporeal terror. A panic attack, she writes, is not a physical state she'd wish on anyone. It is pure fight or flight.

Like many others, Cosslett was prescribed a drug called propranolol to help with her anxiety symptoms. Propranolol is a beta blocker used in cardiac patients to lower the heart rate, but it is increasingly prescribed to those with anxiety disorders because it has some calming effects, and can soothe symptoms such as sweating and shaking.

And prescriptions for these beta blockers are soaring among England's teenage girls - a trend Cosslett views with a raised eyebrow. Her verdict: they deserve more than this sticking-plaster approach. There is no 'magic pill' to fix young women's anxiety, she argues - and she should know, having once taken propranolol herself.

For anyone who needs it: in the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978.