Novelist Cecilia Ahern suffers panic attacks

Best-selling novelist Cecelia Ahern has revealed that she has suffered from panic attacks since childhood.

The PS I Love You author said the paralysing attacks have left her living in fear of when the next one will strike. “I don’t know how many panic attacks I have actually had,” Ms Ahern told broadcaster Gay Byrne. “The fear of them is actually greater than the attack itself. You are afraid of having one so that fear is always there.”

Ahern, whose 11th novel, The Year I Met You, is among the top 10 bestsellers in both Ireland and Britain, talks about her panic attacks in the opening episode of the new season of The Meaning of Life With Gay Byrne this Sunday night on RTÉ One.