About six years ago, I started having panic attacks. I began my journey to solve them with traditional tools, all of which were a great help. Thankfully, a year later treatment was no longer needed.

Frustratingly, about a year after that, I started to develop depression and began to have panic attacks once again. I tried what I knew best and went back to my previous tools, but I was still struggling and far from feeling well again until I got some new advice.

I loved to sing when I was young. My childhood had been filled with creativity, yet for most of my adult life, it was overlooked. A doctor told me that mental health problems are common among the creative minds of the world when creativity is suppressed(压制). To regain it, I decided to get back into singing. Then I joined a group called Sound, a pop band. Much better, I found the courage to audition(试音). I was amazed that I managed to get through such a risky situation and not have a panic attack. The audition itself was a win for me, never mind how I did.

I have now been a member of the band for three years. I love the performance. It reminds me of who I was at school. My path back then was always "do what you love". My entire education was filled with fond memories because of that, and I was starting to build that back into my adult life. Now, I am feeling a lot better. When I panic, distraction is key and singing does help. It sends me into a state in which my body works with pure   joy. More importantly, I will have exercised my creativity and never feel panic.

Recently, researchers at Yale did a groundbreaking study that found that parents had enormous power to reduce their child’s anxiety,even if the child didn’t do anything different.

The study involved 124 parents and their children, aged 7 to 14, who had been diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Half the children received 12 weekly sessions of cognitive(认知的)behaviour therapy(治疗). The other half received no therapy at all，but their parents received 12 weekly sessions to guide them on how to respond to anxiety in their children.

Parent therapy focused on helping parents reduce their accommodation behaviour, which are the behaviour that make anxiety more possible. These behaviour included parents supporting avoidance, over-comforting, changing the environment to avoid anything that might fuel anxiety, accommodating obsessive-compulsive(强迫症)behaviour(either by joining in or making way for them). For example,if a parent received loads of text messages a day from an anxious child, that parent gradually reduced the number of text messages he or she sent back to two or three. Parents of children who were refusing or avoiding school because of anxiety-driven stomachaches were taught to respond with something like,“I know you are feeling upset right now, and I know you will be okay,”before sending the child to school.

The results were remarkable. Children in both groups showed the same reduction in anxiety, regardless of whether they or their parents received suggestions. On top of this, the relationship between the parent and child was better in the group where only the parents received therapy. If you have stood with a child during anxiety,you would probably be way too aware of the sense of helplessness that can swamp them. When anxiety lays a heavy hand, it can understandably be tough for our children to open up to doing something different. What this research is telling us is that we don’t need them to. Even without involving their children, parents have enormous power to reduce anxiety in their children by changing the way they respond to anxiety.

Frequently, we speak about people being “color-blind” but very few of us are. Even those who describe themselves as color-blind are normally just color lack. A strongly, color-blind person will still be able to tell 20 different colors, compared to the 100 or so that normal-sighted people see.

Pingelap, a tiny island in the Pacific, is a beautiful spot but one that has a genetic trouble. It is known as Color-blind Island because so many people who live on this remote island can only see black and white.

Not being able to see colors is bad enough. But one islander, Herrol, who’s a fisherman, also struggles in full sunlight because all he sees is a painful burnt-out image. “I find it difficult to go outside in the sun,” he says, “because when it’s sunny I cannot see to do my work.”

But if being truly color-blind is rare, why is it that around 10% of the population of Pingelap live in a totally black and white world?

Well, we know that in 1780 the population of Pingelap was all but wiped out by a tsunami (海啸). As few as 20 people survived, one of whom was the king. It’s believed he had a genetic fault that causes colour-blindness and he passed this fault on to his many generations.

There is one advantage. Herrol can see well, really well, in the dark. So when it gets dark, Herrol and his friends get in their boats and hunt flying fish. They hang up flaming torches and the fish are attracted to the flames. “This type of fishing is fun,” Herrol says, “especially if we catch plenty. So even though it's hard work we enjoy it.”