Approximately 30-40 percent of people who receive state-of-the-art treatment for their anxiety problems have limited recovery. They do not experience the relief they were hoping to find.

Of those people who do initially derive benefit from treatment, a significant percentage has a relapse after a period of time. In some cases the relapse is a temporary response to increased stress and may be overcome; in other, less fortunate cases, it seems to be enduring.

Why do some persons not get better in spite of good treatment? Why do others relapse? If you´ve not gotten better because you´ve not received appropriate treatment i.e., your therapist sat and just talked with you or tried some other form of treatment instead of cognitive-behavioral therapy, you need to keep looking until you find effective help.

So keep in mind that the reasons that follow assume you've already had proper treatment but have not improved as much as you would like.

1. YOU SHOULD CONTINUE TO PRACTICE THE BASIC TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY.

Recovery from panic, phobias, obsessions and compulsions, or general anxiety requires consistent effort over a period of time. You need to make time each day to practice deep muscle relaxation, engage in aerobic exercise, challenge and counter anxiety-provoking self-talk, and incrementally face internal anxiety sensations or avoided external situations.

If you're unable or unwilling to make such an effort during a course of cognitive-behavioral therapy, you will probably not benefit much from it. And if you don't keep up with the basic practices of relaxation, exercise, and exposure following the completion of therapy, you increase your risk of relapse.

Recovery from an anxiety disorder requires a permanent change in lifestyle, with time allocated each day for practicing skills that keep anxiety and phobias from recurring.

If you find you're having difficulty maintaining a commitment to the daily practices that can ensure your long-term recovery, there are a couple of things you might do.

First, you might arrange with your therapist to have periodic "booster sessions", after you've finished therapy, to help you stay on track with your recovery program.

Second, if you live in a large metropolitan area, you can attend an anxiety disorders support group. Such a group needs to be a place where the focus is on what everybody is doing to maintain or enhance recovery, not just venting about their problems. If you don't have a support group in your area, you can find support through message boards and chat rooms online.