can you ever really be 'cured'?

[saware]

just been thinking about my anxiety, I still haven't really come to terms with it and am really reluctant to consider it a part of who I am. I have great faith in the idea that one day I will be completely 'normal' again. is this belief doing me any good or am I just holding on to an unrealistic expectation? can I ever really go back to the way I was or should I just accept that it is a permanent part of me?
thinking aloud I guess! opinions?

[Stormsky]

I first suffered about 14 yrs ago... You can't go back as if it never happened, it is part of me now...before I suffered I wasn't self aware if everything I feel, and think like I am now...

[fruity]

just been thinking about my anxiety, I still haven't really come to terms with it and am really reluctant to consider it a part of who I am. I have great faith in the idea that one day I will be completely 'normal' again. is this belief doing me any good or am I just holding on to an unrealistic expectation? can I ever really go back to the way I was or should I just accept that it is a permanent part of me?
thinking aloud I guess! opinions?
you can never be free of anxiety but you can learn how to cope and accept it. an you will. i have.

[Catherine S]

Hi
I think anxiety is part of life. To 'suffer' with it means that perhaps we have been tuned into it more. Most 'normal' people have anxiety but they accept that its part of life and don't dwell on it too much...we do, and its this dwelling that makes it more than it should be. Nobody's life is completely anxiety free, its how we react to it thats the key maybe :)

[saware]

Hi
I think anxiety is part of life. To 'suffer' with it means that perhaps we have been tuned into it more. Most 'normal' people have anxiety but they accept that its part of life and don't dwell on it too much...we do, and its this dwelling that makes it more than it should be. Nobody's life is completely anxiety free, its how we react to it thats the key maybe :)

that's a good point. I think I tend to look back at my life before anxiety with some serious rose-tinted glasses. I guess it probably wasn't as perfect as I remember it being!

[theharvestmouse]

As others have said you learn to manage it and cope with it, my therapist taught me to own the anxiety and not let it own you. Probably the best advice anyone has ever given me, basically if you let anxiety stop you from doing things you want to then its owning you, if you carry on doing the things you want to do in spite of anxiety then you are in control.

And believe me the more you do the things the anxiety becomes weaker, it loses power over you. I've been at rock bottom and back so I know what can be achieved.

You will never be the same but you will become stronger, I am a stronger person now than I ever was, and so can anyone else who suffers from anxiety.:)

[Catherine S]

Yes, once you have started to tune into anxiety it can take over very quickly. As soon as you realise that its part of life for everyone and not just for us it loses some of its power..she says as she pops another pill before bed-time :blush: We will get there in the end...I still believe :)