ABSTRACT
Harry, aged 15, had come home early from school, looking forward to halfterm. He set about cleaning his room. By 6 pm he felt unusually tired and went to sleep. He awoke next morning feeling unwell, but made himself go round to see a friend. After a short while he found himself wanting to go home. Back home he felt physically unwell and extremely anxious. He couldn't eat. Over several days the symptoms became worse. Gradually he started to feel depressed and suicidal. Friends told him to go to his GP. During a further week off school Harry started having panic attacks, with severe breathing dif®culties, during which he thought he would die. He lost weight. He began to experience terrifying feelings of depersonalisation and derealisation (e.g. feeling as though he was standing next to himself, and feeling that other people and the world around him were not real). After further visits to the GP, Harry was seen by specialists at the local hospital who could ®nd no physical basis for Harry's symptoms.
