Well - I still get anxiety but what Ive been doing is searching for evidence demonstrating the lack of credibility of anxiety. Thus I went on a short trip and though I panicked, I had such a great time. I deliberately do everything it says I cant. Now whenever these thoughts emerge, I rely on this evidence to counter these negative thoughts (that I will never get better) and remind myself that anxiety is just an overactive alarm system. The fact that I think anxiety will never go away is a type of cognitive distortion namely overestimating its importance. I do have crappy days but recovery is never linear or tidy.
It is tiring! Also, CBT can feel a bit invalidating at first. You may be catastrophizing but that doesn't make the feelings any less real. They are still very difficult to deal with and they FEEL very real. Recognizing and challenging fears that have been fuelling anxiety takes time and LOTS of work. It sounds like you are doing a great job. Be sure to celebrate your successes - just finding thoughts that fuel fears is a huge achievement in itself.
How that it has been about a week since you did one the feat of not getting better - what are your thoughts and feelings on it now?
Well I guess I am catastrophizing and thinking the worst case by thinking it will never go away. Also this has happened before and it completely resolved so by using your list of questions, "whats different now?" it really isnt different. I guess in the past it was shorter vs now it has been over 1 yr. But I know from the program on this site that prior history or duration of anxiety does not preclude you from recovering.
That is a very scary thought. First of all, recognize that the feeling of fear you are having is real but the thoughts behind the fear may be inaccurate. Have you done any research on cognitive distortions? Sometimes identifying cognitive distortions in our thinking can be helpful in changing our thought patterns. Also, find evidence for an against your thought and use questions to challenge the logic of the thought. Here are the questions from the section on how to challenge anxious thoughts:
10 Questions that Help Fight Anxious Thoughts
1. Is it "true"?
2. How do I know it’s true?
3. Is the anxious thought 100% true? (Something less than 100% true is not true)
4. What's the evidence for it being true?
5. What's the evidence against it being true?
6. Has it ever happened before?
7. What's different now?
8. How bad would it really be?
9. What's the worst thing that could happen?
10. If the worst thing happened, how bad would it really be?
I also like to add, if a loved on had the same thought and it was causing them a lot of anxiety what advice would you give them? Often we have the best advice for ourselves; we just need to remind ourselves sometimes.
Let us know what ends up helping. Keep up the good work!
How do you respond to thoughts telling you that you wont get better and that this time around, it is here to stay? Im doing exposure work, seeing a psychologist and doing my homework, but I keep having these thoughts creep up and some days I am able to dismiss it but other days im a vicim to it and it triggers more panic attacks.
thank you Ashley 
