Anxiety Disorder - The Trouble With Therapy and Dealing With a Lapse
It is a surprising fact that a large proportion of anxiety disorder sufferers don't attend Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Here are the most common reasons why anxiety disorder sufferers are not in therapy:
This is when they have their old symptoms come back and it's usually when they experience a particularly stressful period in their life.
It is, however, completely normal for this to happen.
In fact, CBT will help the sufferer to recognise the signs of a build up of anxiety which can lead to a full blown anxiety attack.
The person will have already devised a plan showing certain signs that they have identified such as not going out for a couple of days.
The plan will also contain actions they can take which might include calling their old therapist or looking back over their CBT workbook.
The most important thing about a lapse is that the person does take some action otherwise it might easily become a full relapse with all the old anxiety and behaviors returning.
If this happens then the best thing for the person is to go back into CBT for some more sessions.
So the work on anxiety doesn't stop with the final session of CBT.
The therapist should work with the sufferer to create a long-term plan to continue to manage and confront their anxiety.
Here are the most common reasons why anxiety disorder sufferers are not in therapy:
- Many people with anxiety disorder don't think they have the time to attend CBT.
So many have busy and stressful lives that they just can't see a way to make enough time for therapy - A huge barrier can be the cost.
For some just making ends meet is as much as they can manage and paying for therapy is simply out of the question - It takes commitment to stay with CBT.
It needs to be worked at between sessions and the therapy could last for weeks or months - Some have difficulty in actively learning and practicing the new skills used in CBT which is part of the reason for the need for commitment
- To effectively treat anxiety with CBT the person needs to face their fears head on.
At the beginning this can make things feel worse for the sufferer.
It also means that they have to do this regularly between sessions and there are those who are unwilling to undertake this challenge
This is when they have their old symptoms come back and it's usually when they experience a particularly stressful period in their life.
It is, however, completely normal for this to happen.
In fact, CBT will help the sufferer to recognise the signs of a build up of anxiety which can lead to a full blown anxiety attack.
The person will have already devised a plan showing certain signs that they have identified such as not going out for a couple of days.
The plan will also contain actions they can take which might include calling their old therapist or looking back over their CBT workbook.
The most important thing about a lapse is that the person does take some action otherwise it might easily become a full relapse with all the old anxiety and behaviors returning.
If this happens then the best thing for the person is to go back into CBT for some more sessions.
So the work on anxiety doesn't stop with the final session of CBT.
The therapist should work with the sufferer to create a long-term plan to continue to manage and confront their anxiety.
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