can you recover from anxiety or do you have to learn to live with it forever

[candyfluff]

?
thats it really
would like to to hear you views

do you mean having panic attacks in certain situations?
my sister has had really good results with beta blockers prescribed by the gp

I have a general anxiety which I have discovered can trigger depression when it gets too much.

I am currently taking ADs but am cutting down and hope to have stopped by the end of the year.

I have found a course of CBT I had this time last year really helped me.

I have no panic attacks or anxiety anymore, i never had prescribed drugs, just counselling.

i dont have panic attacks more general anxiety and it gets worse when im ill or the kids are ,i really want to hope and believe that at some point it will ease or go completely
im on ad's have been for nearly 3 yrs increasing recntly in doseage
am down for a cbt course waiting for a date
am having counselling at the moment but just cry the whole time ?

Yes, I truly believe it is possible.

It is possible to reduce your anxiety to a much more manageable level. To a level where you can accept your anxiety, it is mild, you can live with it, therefore it doesn't stress you.

Everyone suffers from stress and anxiety. The difference between people is how they handle it. I truly believe this.

candyfluff - Absolutely it is possible. I was crippled with panic attacks & anxiety disorder during my early 20s, they dictated every aspect of my life and the only relief I could get was to drink heavily - which of course made things much worse. Now in my mid 30s, I am rather zen and relaxed about life and I honestly don't think I'd have got here without my journey through anxiety disorder, so in a way I'm grateful for it.

The things that have helped me are meditation and getting in touch with my body through physical therapies like yoga, breath control and massage. Studying physiology and properly understanding the function of the anxiety response has been helpful too. It's much more empowering to say "Oh, my sympathetic nervous system is working too hard!" than "Help, what is this horrible creepy feeling?"

I still have some ferocious feelings of anxiety as do all humans, but am able to watch them. Naming the feelings helps - "Oh look, anxiety has popped up again," and then letting it pass by. I think of anxiety now as a bus that pulls up at the bus stop from time to time, but I don't have to get on it and carried away any more. Some days that bloody bus parks at the bus stop for a couple of hours, but by and large it eventually gives up and drives off without me on it!

Good luck!

Yes absolutely you can recover from it. It takes work, especially if you have been suffering from it for a while.

I had medication when I was very ill but also had cognitive behavioural therapy (through the NHS) which was helpful.

Agree with Minty - everyone has anxiety to some extent (some worse than others admittedly), it's just learning to deal with it.

It's also about looking after yourself physically and mentally so you are in the best possible place to deal with it well.
And learning to recognise when things are too much / getting on top of you so you can do something about it / get help, before it gets too bad.

Probably, but I like my little Happy Pills.

thats a nice way of explaining it gentle

Thank you candyfluff. You can do it, you'll have steps backwards as well as steps forwards, but it can be done!

candyfluff i have had a similar experience to gentle.

i think learning what triggered it and just sheer long-term experience that it wouldn't overcome me is really what got me past it.

exercise has been really good for me too.

I am very much calmer than I used to be and I did it without drugs too.

I had a course of CBT and also a course on relaxation and it seems to have done the trick.

I would say I was 'cured' of anxiety but it isn't a day to day (or hour by hour at its worst) battle any more and I can go for months without getting even slightly panicky (apart from normal panic if something has really gone wrong iyswim).

Ironically now I have something to really worry about (children) I manage much better which is a bit weird.

short of time but want to respond quickly. Yes, you can recover. 10 years ago I was so plagued by panic attacks and anxiety, it was taking over my life. I was permanently shaking, I used to pay cash in shops rather than sign a credit card slip as my hands shook too much to hold a pen. It was really bad. I had medication (prozac), saw a psychiatrist and was referred by him to a cognitive behavioural therapist. It took a year to climb out of the hole I was in and I havent had a panic attack since and am not a particularly anxious person. For me the anxiety was circumstancial (bad marriage fist time round) and I needed to deal with things and sort my life out, then the anxiety went.
when I was anxious the things that helped ease it were - no caffeine, little or no alcohol (hangovers made it worse), walking everywhere (I got quite claustrophobic after huge panic attack on tube train). I also drank chamomile tea, used rescue remedy etc. I did try drinking vodka for breakfast once and it made everything so much worse.

Good luck.

What a possitive thread! I amso suffer from anxiety anh jope n pray that some day it will go and let me get on with my life!

Glad to hear it is possible!

Thank for posting! x x x