How come, when recovering from anxiety, you don't continually go up? Setbacks...

[verityvee]

I don't understand. I'm trying really hard to get better, i'm in two types of therapy. Yesterday was the best day I have had in AGES! Managed to eat out all day, no panic apart from a little one after lunch. I was so positive last night and happy. Then this morning i woke up feeling terrible again. Panicing, couldn't go out. I forced myself to go out and this did help a little.

But why can't it be a one way recovering progress UPWARDS?

Why does our body set us back all the time?

Are setbacks part of recovery and they get less and less?

I don't know,
someone try and explain please?

[typical skeleton]

What type of therapy are you undergoing?

Anxiety disorders often have many underlying factors, in that they're not caused by any one specific thing. In my experience (and from what I've learned), most people have multiple bad experiences and a vast number of triggers.

Therapy can, at times, unlock some "hidden" memories, things you're suppressed, resulting in more triggers and more attacks. This can go on for some time, and I've had it happen to me directly in therapy sessions. It's not an endless road, but can take a long time and a lot of work.

It's important for you to understand that emetophobia may not be the root cause of your episodes, and you developed an anxiety issue in the past, so you may be able to backslide at times into anxious episodes.

Like I said, though, it is not an endless road, though it may occasionally feel fruitless. Stick with it.

[ButterfliesInHerEyes]

Recovery tends to be one step forward and two steps back. Probably because it takes time to create new neuropathways in the brain so the existing old ones that have been there for a while are stronger some days. It's like there's a fight going on in the brain ... the old strong brain connections against the new, younger, and weaker ones. So until the new ones get stronger than the old ones, the old ones will win some days.

It's kind of like when a baby learns to walk, at first he's all wobbly and unsure and might take one step and then fall down. As he gets stronger and more balanced, he can stay up longer without falling, but falling still occurs.

So think of the setbacks as part of the growing process.... like growing pains.

[lisalulu]

I did a lot of back and forth, I was doing really well for a while, then I got worse (or thought I did) because a lot of stressful things went on in my life around that time but then I got better again and when I did I was cured. You might not think you are making progress but you probably are.