cbt not working

[jacques]

I have been told by a psycologist two years ago that i need to get out of the house and follow cbt, i have tried over the past year but i am finding the anxiety getting worse. I cannot sleep, i am having panic attacks all of the time, day and night.

All of the books i have read and councillers i have spoken to have said that cbt is suppost to lower anxiety.

It frightens that i will be like this for the rest of my life.

[JessF]

Hello jacques, is it two years since you have seen a psychologist? Learning things like CBT take time as it requires you to break down your negative thought patterns and 'reprogram' them, this is something that is best done with a professional to help you, it's not something that you can easily learn out of a book by yourself, plus there will be relapses along the way as you make changes.  Are you on any medication at all for the panic attacks>?

[jacques]

hi JessF, thankyou for the reply yes i am on medication, but it has not done a lot to ease the anxiety and i am finding that it is becomming less and less effective.  my anxiety has been with me for 27 years, i am 32 and still can't leave my parents for more than a few hours at a time, i have never had a night away from home. 

I think my problems are so engrained in me that i may never be free of anxiety.  I realise CBT takes time and i understand the logic of it, but knowing what are the negative thoughts and actually over-riding them are two different things.  the anxiety can be so overwhelming that i can focus on nothing else.

I am starting to resign my self to the fact that i am not going to have a "normal" life, i see people i have gone to school with and they have cars, houses and partners and i have had none of these, and probably never will.