The effectiveness of CBT

[Lucyy]

Hi everyone,

I have had 14 1/hr sessions of CBT from the NHS to help deal with my severe GAD and health anxiety. Like a lot of people, I had a traumatic childhood that I haven't explored until now. I have found that since starting therapy I am now fully aware of how my anxiety manifests and I now have all these labels attached to me (social anxiety, low mood, GAD, HA) and it makes me feel, sort of, broken. Although I had anxiety before, I don't ever remember being this hyper aware of /why/ and /how/ and /what/ is making me feel a certain way. I also have never ever put blame on my parents before going to therapy and it has made me see them differently (not in a good way!). I haven't got many sessions left, I feel worse - and I will really struggle to fund private therapy until I have finished my masters degree in August.
I feel a bit lost - why didn't CBT work for me? Am I just a lost cause? Why do I feel so much worse now?

[ankietyjoe]

CBT isn't about exploring causes or reasons. CBT is a set of tools that help you react differently to anxiety triggers, and those tools are more reliant on the patient practising them rather than the therapist administering them.

I would suggest that you ask your therapist to focus on the coping tools for the remainder of your sessions rather than picking old mental scabs.

I am of the opinion that re-living past experiences has only a limited benefit to recovery as each to you re-live, you also re-trigger the fight or flight response.

Also, don't focus on the labels, they are all really part of the same thing and are not separate things that require separate attention. You're also not broken, anxiety is a natural part of the human condition, it's just the anxiety disorder that's the problem. We can learn to react badly to stress and triggers over time, and we can also un-learn that behaviour, which is what CBT is really supposed to help with. And that's what your CBT therapist should really be focussing on too.

[hlvd]

I've had several sessions of CBT at different times with different therapists.

I have to say it had a negative effect, it made me aware of my failings and what I was missing out on in life.
This had the opposite effect of making me feel better as I then suffered even more because I had even more things to worry about.

I'm aware that I'm in the minority and I'm told is a very effective form of therapy.

[ankietyjoe]

This is from the NHS website, specifically about how CBT works -

"CBT is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a vicious cycle.
CBT aims to help you deal with overwhelming problems in a more positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts.
You're shown how to change these negative patterns to improve the way you feel.
Unlike some other talking treatments, CBT deals with your current problems, rather than focusing on issues from your past.
It looks for practical ways to improve your state of mind on a daily basis"


I strongly suspect that anybody having a negative reaction to CBT is because the therapist is at fault, not the patient. Especially in the case of the OP.

[hlvd]

Hi everyone,

I have had 14 1/hr sessions of CBT from the NHS to help deal with my severe GAD and health anxiety. Like a lot of people, I had a traumatic childhood that I haven't explored until now. I have found that since starting therapy I am now fully aware of how my anxiety manifests and I now have all these labels attached to me (social anxiety, low mood, GAD, HA) and it makes me feel, sort of, broken. Although I had anxiety before, I don't ever remember being this hyper aware of /why/ and /how/ and /what/ is making me feel a certain way. I also have never ever put blame on my parents before going to therapy and it has made me see them differently (not in a good way!). I haven't got many sessions left, I feel worse - and I will really struggle to fund private therapy until I have finished my masters degree in August.
I feel a bit lost - why didn't CBT work for me? Am I just a lost cause? Why do I feel so much worse now?

I didn't read your initial post properly, sorry.

Having read it properly I can agree with you 100%, I was far happier being ignorant of all my labels and faults.

Being aware of problems and causes and having the ability to do something about them are two very different things, CBT isn't the answer to everything.

[Phoenixess]

I’m currently having CBT it has helped in some aspects but not in others. I now put every physical problem down to anxiety until I cannot cope and then I go into panic. I have ran out of reasons of thinking why I might die and I think that may be a good thing. I have my moments don’t get me wrong but that’s when I can’t see the wood for the trees. Overall I think CBT has been beneficial but we just focused on panic attacks and not my health anxiety apparently there is a different approach to that. So maybe that might be the error with your therapists approach? Did you feel happy with the therapeutic relationship at the start? I often have migraines after my sessions it’s intense to talk about your worst fears non stop for an hour.

I had counselling initially now cbt and then I’m re-referring for CBT for health anxiety, and I hope to have some more counselling after.

Best of luck x


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