Hello CLN,
If you read enough post on here you will learn that anxiety certainly effects everyone differently. True we all have anxiety, that's normal and yes some develop disorders from it.
Here's my two cents, keep in mind I'm not a professional. Recognizing what causes it is a good thing, but doesn't mean it can't get worse....reason being, chances are by the time anxiety goes from just that, to fear or maybe even panic, we have in a sense developed negative thoughts and bad habits over several years....It just took awhile to catch up or take it's toll.
If it took say 10 years of negative thoughts and habits to get to the disorder stage, then certainly it will most likely take a long period of time to reprogram ourselves. My personal opinion and a couple others on here is that, once you reach the point of it being a disorder ( if that is even the right term ) I think even if we recover...it still takes daily management of ourselves more so than someone who hasn't experienced anxiety to our level.
As far as hope....there is ALWAYS hope. Anxiety is treatable and manageable. There are many methods out there to help recover, you just have to find what works best for you.
as someone who is deep into recovery, I will tell you that it takes patience, a lot of effort, facing fears and discipline....having patience can be really tough for some...facing fears is no less difficult and many struggle to have disciplin, but you must develop all three to make a recovery. You may develop these things on your own or it may take a therapist or a combination of several things to develop these skills.
I think for many, including myself....the process to recover is slow because it takes time to develop all these things well enough to make real progress....gain knowledge first and then work on the rest......Best wishes...WM