# Anxiety Disorders > Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) >  >  Do you think overcoming your anxiety disorder is possible?

## Kimbra

How if yes and why if no.

----------


## Otherside

Yep, although I don't think doing so is as easy as a lot of people make it out to be. 

My anxiety has definitely improved since it was diagnosed ten years ago, and its been a few years since I had a pretty bad panic attack.

----------


## Antidote

Yes. But it's going to be extraordinarily difficult since it's been pretty bad for years.

----------


## InvisibleGuy

No. And it's not from lack of trying. It's not like I haven't been persistent. I started having anxiety when I was four or five years old (though I had no idea what it was, what I was feeling) because of the physical and emotional abuse I went through for years, from about three or four until about age nine or ten. I've tried all kinds of therapies and almost every SSRI and SNRI you could name. I think that after all that, after 40+ years of having anxiety, if I was able to overcome (cure) it I would have by now.

----------


## L

I believe a part will always be with me. I can and have made it better. I comes back when I'm emotionally stressed, I believe it is part of my personality.

----------


## Cuchculan

No. I think we learn to live with it. Learn ways to deal with certain situations we find ourselves in. So we can have a life. But most people will always still be on guard against their anxiety.

----------


## Wishie

I think I can manage it but not cure it.

----------


## Ironman

Yes, but it is a lot of work and thought retraining!

----------


## Sagan

Overcoming? no. Getting it to a manageable level, yes.

----------


## HypnoticTrance

It's not possible for _any_ human to be 100% anxiety-free, but you wouldn't want that anyway as anxiety helps keep us safe. My anxiety has certainly gone down since I was a teen. That's in part due to the fact that I've grown wiser since getting out of high-school and have learned to not care as much about what people think of me; this has helped a great deal.

I've had severely socially anxious people share personal anecdotes of how they eventually got out their situation. I've even spoken to those who were housebound for years -- literally years -- who, after many years of being inside, went on to marry, acquire jobs, etc. I do believe it takes hard work and determination to get social anxiety down to an acceptable level, but it can be done. When the weather becomes nicer here I plan, as an experiment, to force myself to spend much time outside around people and see if, eventually, things get better for me. I also recently acquired various social anxiety self-help books that for quite a few socially anxious folks have been 'life-changing.' I plan on devouring these books before forcing myself outside daily.

----------


## InvisibleGuy

^ I agree.

I said that I can't be cured and I really believe that. I will never be without a somewhat debilitating amount of anxiety. Not what most people feel as normal anxiety, and not what's healthy....I mean anxiety that keeps me from achieving career goals, my ambitions. There is no doubt in my mind that I would be a lot further along in my field if I didn't have anxiety. But I've managed to overcome some of it, and in ways that I never thought possible. I'm in outside sales lmao, and if you'd told me twenty years ago that I'd have a management position in outside sales, meeting with dozens of people every day, flying out of state for meetups, having video conference calls....I would have told you that you were crazy.

I also want to date right now but my anxiety gets in the way of that. I'm not looking for a one night stand. So....to find a good match, to find your soulmate....who knows how many dates you might have to go out on. And I've dated before, and dating can be a lot of fun, I just don't have it in me right now. Dating is fun but it's also getting through some bad dates. You can def make friends by dating (I have) but to find a good match might take some bad ones. I just don't know if I want to go through that anymore. I'm 46 years old, ffs. I've been there and done that lol.

So I guess it depends on what your definition of "overcoming your anxiety" is.

----------


## sweetful

Succinctly put: nah, no way, never. Just can't see it happening for me.

----------


## Purple_Sheep

Not possible or even feasible in today's society but it is all about degrees. For me I would have to sell my house, car and rid myself of all material possessions. 
I would like to try live in a community of like minded people living off the land eating what we grow. 
I would have to detach myself from everything that is classed as "normal life" 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

----------


## liveitup898

Yes it is definitely possible.

However for most, it's not easy (myself included and I am no where near "cured" after 13 years).

To me, "cure" means learning to adapt and live with the disorder but not let it prevent you from doing what makes you happy in life.  It may bring relpases every now and then but the "cured" part means we recover from the relapse quicker and sometimes instantly.

----------


## 1

It's a possibility for some

----------


## Ironman

Yes, but there are a LOT of thought patterns that need to change to do it.  The key is to take things a bit at a time and not become overwhelmed.

(Post #1975 - the year I was born!)

----------


## unpopularbugs

No.

----------


## CeCe

Nada  ::(:

----------

