Does CBT work?

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Just that really. I'm having face to face CBT sessions to try and help my anxiety. I'm not anxious generally but it's triggered badly when one of my children or DH is poorly. I did CBT online during lockdown and found it basically useless so they sent me for face to face this time but I just don't see how it can help me. I had an anxiety attack this evening and I just can't see it ever getting any better. It's debilitating when it happens. I want a magic pill but I know that's never going to happen but I'm not sure CBT is the answer.

Sorry if I'm rambling, I'm struggling a lot with anxiety at the moment and anxiety attacks make me feel very sleepy

Did nothing for me. I could see the patterns and the negative thinking. Made no difference at all.

I had face to face CBT pre covid era for PTSD and found it really helpful

Absolutely did nothing for me. Paid almost £200 quid an hour to see a top bloke in a private Hospital… turns out he wanted me to do all the legwork and I mean ALL the legwork at home . Alone.

It was absolutely useless for me. No help at all.

I’m now worse than I’ve ever been.

I don’t know what to do.

I've had cbt for anxiety it didn't work. I'm now doing hypnotherapy and that seems to be working for me as well as meds

It can work if you put the effort in. Ultimately it’s about changing your way of thinking so you have to do the leg-work yourself, nobody else can do it for you, the therapist can guide but the person undergoing the therapy needs to commit for it to work. It can be successful but it’s not a magic cure, it won’t work for people who don’t commit but it also awon’t work for everybody who does put in the effort and it may need to be combined with other treatments (medication and/ or therapist. Unfortunately nobody can say whether it will work for you on an individual level, but on a population level it has been shown to be effective in treating anxiety, among other mental health disorders, when the program is followed correctly.

I had CBT twice for depression. The first time it worked, but only while I was doing the course. Once I had finished I found I could not maintain it alone. One of the biggest barriers for me was getting past the notion that my thoughts were 'wrong'.

The second time I did CBT, I was also taking antidepressants. I am certain that this helped me to access the learning much better, and to keep it going so that my new thinking patterns became part of my general life. (Even after I came off the antidepressants.) This time I recognised that my thoughts were not 'wrong', they were just unhelpful - a much more helpful way of thinking about them.

My husband found it really helpful. Give it a go but if you need meds use them too.

Thanks for all the replies. I take medication too, I have done for a while now which definitely helps me day to day but when there's a trigger it's like nothing helps. I'll definitely persevere with it because I want it to help and it's taken a long time to even get an appointment but I'm not convinced by it. Which probably does help either

Have you tried Kalms
They work for me with no side effects

I had face-to-face CBT and found it really helped. Massively!! But as others have said, you have to be prepared to put the work in on your own time, do your homework exercises etc. What I learnt in CBT over a decade ago has stayed with me and I still use some of the techniques when I'm finding things harder than usual. And it still works.

I did all the effort and homework. Still made no difference.

Now EMDR was amazing for anxiety. That is really worth paying for. It just happens like magic.

I had CBT for depression some years back, after being on meds for short while. Helped enormously and after that I was able to come off the antidepressants. I have never been back there. I think CBT only works if it comes at the right time for you. You need to work at it. Good luck!

@RicchT I'm sorry you're struggling. That feeling of "I don't know what to do" is one I feel so much. It feels like things can't get better

Look to your childhood for the origin of the anxiety. Was a parent, grandparent or someone close to you ill and it scared you or made you feel helpless? Understanding why you feel the way you do is hugely important in changing your thought patterns.

Interesting. I had EMDR and found it didn’t help me at all, it actually made things worse.

I guess it goes to show there is no one size fits all therapy solution and what works for one might not work for another.

I suspect it's a lot of things. Only child of a single mother so always scared she would get ill or die and leave me all alone. She had a big accident when I was a teenager which affected me a lot. Add to that difficult birth with DS, horrible recovery, baby not thriving, suspected spina bifida, not hitting milestones and developing atypically. I think it all creates a big picture

Have you seen your GP? Could you get a referral to NHS Psychotherapy services? Sounds like you have had a terrible experience.

This. If you won't do the work on your own at home then it won't work. You do have to surrender to the process and do what you are told by the counsellor. Trouble is, a lot of people with anxiety are also chronic overthinkers and can talk themselves out of doing the work. It absolutely isn't a magic pill.

It totally does make it very understandable. It might help to look up Compassion Focused Therapy and Chris Irons. They have lots of things online that you could read?

I did but found it incredibly hard work, bizarrely physically exhausting. It worked though and I now have a job I love which was inconceivable 10 years ago.

@Starryskiesinthesky thank you, I'll definitely look those up

I had CBT & EMDR. Both are not enough for those with C-ptsd.

I totally agree - it’s finding out what works for you. The problem is often the therapist is trained in a certain therapy and so uses that all the time rather than being flexible. I am just doing my EMDR training and they (trainers) all rave about it but I’m sure it suits some people and not others!

I have never heard of EMDR so I'm going to look into that a bit more. I'll continue with CBT and do the homework and try my best. I really would prefer a magic pill though

Whereas EMDR is designed to be used with complex PTSD as well as one off events. That’s a shame that they haven’t been enough. I hope you are getting some other help.