Has CBT worked for you???

I started CBT in November 09 and see my therapist every wednesday for an hour..

The thing is, both me and my therapist have agreed that it doesnt seem to be working.

He thinks its because i am so convinced that my symptoms are those of a serious illness rater than anxiety and i will not be satisfied until i have had tests ie ct scan... mri etc

My Therpist told me that CBT is usually very sucessfull and now im worried about why it isnt working for me, i do take into consideration what he says but still cant shift the panic and health anxiety..

Has anyone else had cbt and has it worked?

Ive only had 2 sessions so far but i cant see it working, it hasnt helped one bit so far anyway, in fact last time i came out feeling even worse because my therapist told me that she wasnt sure if my symptoms were anxiety so had to check with my doctor ! My doctor has said that they are but im not convinced....x

It really helped me BUT I can totally understand why it isn't working for you because you are convinced it is health related, and not all in your head.

Are you actually waiting for tests to be done at present? I thnk once these tests show you that everything is ok you can then move on with the CBT and will benefit from it.

The first time I had CBT it didn't work at all. I was convinced that I had a heart problem and was waiting to be referred for an echocardiogram from my doctor while I was meeting with my therapist.

After 6 weeks of CBT (Once a week for an hour) I hadn't changed much at all, just was more aware of my thoughts. It didn't stop the panic or anxiety.

I then had my echo and felt a hell of a lot better when the results were normal. I'm now on my 2nd round of CBT with a different therapist and things are going really well. Each week she gets me to set 2 goals for me to do and although the anxiety still remains for now, the panic has pretty much gone.

If you are convinced that something is wrong with you then CBT probably won't work until you have proof on paper that contradicts what you believe, for you that would be an MRI or CT scan as you mentioned above, for me it was my Echo and having it really did help. It's like it made me accept that it was anxiety causing my symptoms which made me put everything into CBT the second time around. Where as before I was just doing it and didn't believe it would work as I was certain that infact I had a heart problem.

Is there one thing that you are most worried about regarding your health?
Is it possible to have a test to prove your worry wrong?

Maybe after you have a test this might be enough to believe that it is just anxiety that you're dealing with. It worked for me anyway.

Hi thanks very much for your replies, i get bad headaches which the doctors said is tension and i get all kinds of other symptoms too like internal shakes and vibrations, numbness, derealization, twitching muscles and sleep paralysis. I'm going to see a neurologist in two weeks and am hoping i get some answers then. Thanks for all the replies :)

Your problem may be physical. Look at the Biobalance.org website, and read about all the physical reasons, for anxiety and depression. I was so releived ,on the day that my Dr said ,that I was right all along, and that my problems were not psychological ,all along.

Yes it is workming for me, its amazing, and meds are fab too. But it wasnt working when i was convinced i had something wrong with my heart/brain. After 5 ECG's, 1 continual 4 hour ECG, a Chest X Ray to check lungs, Bloodwork done, AND a CT Scan on my brain to check for tumours/heamorrages/aneurysms etc, I FINALLLLLLLLLLLLLY accepted it was NOT PHYSICAL, and it was all in my head. CBT is now working wonderfully so maybe u should get a referral for a CT and then have CBT after ur results. A little tip, sometimes u need to exaggerate ur symptoms to get referred. But u didnt hear that from me lol. Good luck :)

You are in a state of fear at the moment and your mind is feeding that fear. In turn this is creating the tensions and anxiety that you are experiencing. This can manifest itself in the form of believing that something is wrong with your health when it is not.

CBT, through positive thought processes, can be very good in overcoming anxieties created - but it doesn't work for everyone. No need to be down- hearted though. It may only take a chat with your doctor or some other medical expert to convince you that all is well.

CBT didn't work for me first time round but did second time. It may also have been the result of other factors like doing more exercise, yoga, healthier diet - who knows? It is what's good for you and at some point things will fall into place and your worries will go