Do everyday activities cause you to come out in a cold sweat, pick at your nails or look at the floor? If so, you’re not alone

Picture the scene: you’re at the hairdresser’s. You booked this cut weeks ago, with high hopes for a new style or simply a tidy trim. But now, sitting in the waiting area, it all feels… well, a little anxiety-inducing.

First of all, there’s the age-old conundrum to contend with – does the gown fasten at the front or the back? You hurriedly poke an arm down a sleeve but are soon advised that you’ve got the whole thing on back to front. Your face grows warm as you try to laugh it off. All the other customers look calm, somehow – like they were born knowing exactly how to navigate things like this.

Next comes the dreaded hair wash, which is supposed to be relaxing but always seems to arrive with its own specific raft of worries. Are you meant to close your eyes and risk falling asleep? Will you look too intense if you keep them open? And when – when?! – are you supposed to tilt your neck back up for the towel?

Back in the styling chair, the small talk begins – you do your best to chat casually over the noise of the hairdryer, sharing weekend plans and post-holiday anecdotes while secretly fretting that what you’re saying might not be quite interesting or exciting enough. You arrive home two hours later coiffed and combed – but also exhausted.