Do you ever really recover from severe anxiety disorders??

[25goingon95]

Ive had CBT for social phobia/agoraphobia/health anxiety/GAD......i am SO much better than i was a year ago, not agoraphobic anymore don't avoid aything, feel like i have my life back. But im noticing that if i let my diet slip a little and don't drink enough water for a couple of days, i start to feel panicky. If i have a couple of late nights, i start to feel panicky. If i am worried about something, my symptoms come back and i have to push myself to keep going. If i have something health related on my mind, for the next week i suffer with health anxiety. It doesn't last long as i am much better and feel stronger and better able to cope now, but it is always there lurking...i notice my friends and everyone around me, they don't have to keep track of their diet and sleep to feel well...will it be like this forever now? I feel so fragile at times.

I suffer from GAD and anxiety/ OCD/ and have done for 23 years..... I go through phases where is just isnt an issue and then other times, like at the moment it rears its ugly ugly head and I find it hard to cope. There are times when I have felt "cured" even for long periods, but then sometimes it comes out of the blue and I almost feel abck to sqaure 1. I know that I am no where near as bad as I was a decade ago..... I am having CBT at the moment and its early days but I am hopefully it will help. I dont think that there is a "cure" as its all to do with the process's of your mind and chemical imbalances which can be very delicate. Its not going to be like breaking a leg that can be "fixed". I think that things like this are a bit like being an alcoholic. You can get over it and live a normal life, but you always need to be mindful and vigilant we are more suceptible to slipping backwards than other people. Maybe thats why your friends appear to be more cavalier. But experiecne has taught me never to assume that becuase someone seems to be fine on the outside, that that means they cant have internal issues. No one ever knew about any of my issues until I told them, so maybe its your perception of your friends as well..... But if you know what makes you better then dont worry about being fragile. Your not, you have found a way to cope - good for you and keep on doing it.

Hi, thanks for your replies. I think you are so right Loie, your post was really helpful thanks.

Thanks drumlin, I have thought about getting some top up sessions but i only finished my CBT in august and was in such a good place, the therapist was really pleased with my progress and i was very happy. I don't want to go back only a few weeks later :( Im slowly climbing out of a setback now, a random panic attack set me off. My diet wasn't the best for a couple of weeks and i was doing late nights at work which i think was the cause. Since then ive had waves of panic when out and about. Then i got caught up on a health issue and had really bad health anxiety until i managed to see what was happening and now im on the up again.

Was just wondering if it will be like this forever but i guess if i keep in mind that im more susceptable [can't spell that!] to slipping back i can try to get into the habit of taking care of myself a little more..and accepting it.

Thanks both of you :)