Agoraphobia Support

I got gas for my car and shopped at 3 stores ALONE.

AND I WASNT ANXIOUS AT ALL!

Women suffering Agoraphobia in films 🏠

Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder provoking extreme or irrational fear of entering open / crowded places, of leaving one's own home, or of being in places from which escaping seems difficult. It can be associated with severe depression and is often in response to a past traumatic event, sometimes even appearing years after said event. It can starts showing with a first panic attack in open space such as a store or public transports but it can also be affected by stress in the work area, leading the person experiencing panic attacks to narrow down the places where they feel in danger by anticipation and to stay in the comfort of their home where they feel safe and in control. People with this disorder also suffer socially as they fear interacting and judgment from others.

Agoraphobia can begin in childhood, but usually starts in the late teen or early adult years.

Women are diagnosed with agoraphobia more often than men are.

Anxiety, like many other mental health conditions, can be harder to treat if you wait, don't be scared to open up to a therapist and someone close that you can trust.

You're not alone. Don't let it make your world smaller.

Famous people who suffered Agoraphobia:

Macaulay Culkin feared invasive photographers and felt like buildings would eat him if he left the house. He has worked on his condition and bought a dog to get him out of the house for walks.

Kim Basinger's anxiety was so severe her parents initially thought she had autism. She had a disabling fear of public spaces and spent days indoors crying during the worst of her condition. In her 20s, she experienced a bad episode that resulted in her sweating, shaking, and confined to her home for six months.

Barbra Streisand forgot the lyrics to 3 of her songs during a free concert. "I totally spaced out. And so I didn’t sing again for 27 years.” Streisand tried taking anxiety medication and sought professional help to ease her back into performing again. She realized the root of her agoraphobia was from the need to be seen as perfect.

Whoopi Goldberg suffered extreme anxiety that led to agoraphobia with aerophobia, the fear of flying, after witnessing two planes colliding midair and claiming 135 lives. As of 2020, she managed to conquer her fear and flew over the Atlantic to London.

You are listening to this because you are feeling anxious or panicky. You may be frightened right now. You may feel scared and like running away, You may feel like you are going to lose control or make a fool of yourself. Or you may be afraid that you will get hurt or hurt someone else. You may feel sure that something terrible will happen to you. But stop! Listen to me! YOU WILL BE OKAY. YOU WILL BE FINE.

These feeling you are experiencing right now will go away. They’ll go away on their own. With time. You can be assured of that. They have to go away because they are a part of the normal way that the body reacts.

The discomfort will pass. Nothing terrible will happen. No disaster will occur. Slow down and just ask yourself, “What is really happening?” Notice the sensations in your body. These feelings cannot harm you. They cannot harm you because they are a normal part of how the body operates. Whether you may be having difficulty breathing, or you feel pressure in your head, or you feel tightness in your chest, or you feel your heart beating faster, or you feel dizzy or lightheaded, shaky or sweaty, or anything else you feel. These are all normal ways that the body reacts when you feel anxious. These feeling cannot harm you. They may be uncomfortable and unsettling but they will not harm you.

You are safe because your body will not harm you with these sensations. What you are fearing will not happen. It never has and it never will. Your body will take care of itself. You just need to let it.

Now stop and continue to listen. Take a slow breath. It may be a little difficult at first but as you continue to listen to me you can continue to slow down your breathing. Inhale slowly and exhale slowly. As you exhale let the muscles in your shoulders relax, let your shoulders drop and relax.

Soon you will begin to feel better. Don’t try to force it. Just continue to listen to me. Anxiety and panic will pass. It has to. That’s the way the body functions. Whatever you are feeling right now will pass. I know that at some point your body WILL begin to slow down. I am sure of that because that is how your body is designed.

However, for right now just remember that what you are feeling may be intense, but it is a normal stress response. Your body is revving up temporarily but it will slow down. Keep in mind that you are safe. Your body will slow down. You are safe even though you may be uncomfortable. You are perfectly safe.

Continue to take slow breaths. Inhale slowly. Exhale slowly. Continue to listen to what I am saying. Now let the muscles in your neck and shoulders relax. Let your shoulders and your arms drop and relax while you breath slowly.

You know that the fear of these sensations and scary thoughts have controlled your life.  They tell you what you can do and what you can’t do. It is unfair that they have controlled you like this and dictated what you can do in your life. You must be so tired of this problem. You don’t want to be controlled and intimidated by fear anymore! Aren’t you angry that the fear of these feelings can control your life like this?

You are fed up with feeling like this. But you are doing something about it. Right now you are listening to me. Right now you are fighting back by learning to tolerate these uncomfortable feelings. And you can do this. You can get through this. It may be unpleasant but you can do this. I know you can!

Now pay attention to what is happening right now. Try to focus outside of yourself. Where are you? What do you see around you? Take a good look and notice the things you see. What are you doing? What is happening? Slow down and pay attention to what is really happening right now. No matter how much you might believe something terrible is going to happen, nothing is really happening right now. You are just feeling these sensations in your body. This discomfort will pass just as it has always passed and you will be okay.

You are choosing something difficult right now. You are choosing to fight back. You are fighting back by learning to tolerate these uncomfortably sensations and to not let them control your life anymore. You are choosing to feel this fear now so that it won’t control you tomorrow. When you are less afraid of feeling this way, this fear won’t have control over you and won’t occur as much or as intensely. No one has ever been harmed by a panic attack. And you won’t be either.

Take a deep breath. Inhale slowly. Exhale slowly. Don’t try to force the breathing or relaxations.

These awful sensations will go away. This experience will soon be over. It has to be. Your body can only maintain these sensations as long as the adrenalin lasts and at some point it will exhaust its ability to feel this way. It will stop. It always has and it always will.

I know it can be very tempting to give up. It is tiring to have to feel this way. Sometimes you may get very discouraged because it is not fair that you have to feel this way and have this problem. Other people may not even recognize what you have to go through just to do the things that you want to or need to do in your life. They may not realize the courage it takes to face this fear but I do. I know that it takes a lot of courage to face this fear down, to tell it “I’m not going to let you control my life anymore!” You have the courage to face down this fear. You know the more you face them, they will lose their control over you. And as it loses its control it will begin to go away.

Now again take a slow breath. Focus on your breathing. Inhale slowly. Exhale slowly. Just breath slowly and let your body do what it knows how to do.

Keep in mind that by continuing to challenge your fear, you are strengthening your ability to control this fear rather than it controlling you. You don’t need to let this problem control your life. You have the courage to face it. You don’t need to let the fear decide what you are able to do in your life. You can decide. You can choose to continue to face this fear down. Even if it means you have to feel uncomfortable for awhile, it’s only temporary and that as you continue to let yourself experience this discomfort you will become more and more in control. You will gain more confidence in yourself to tolerate this discomfort as will as your ability to reduce the sensations.

“So get therapy”

Oh my God - Thank you SO. MUCH.  I mean, I have only been dealing with this disorder officially for 12 years now (with symptoms dating back to when I was just 6-7 years old), been on countless medications, and seen no less than five mental health professionals

Thank FUCK that I have you to tell me that I’ve apparently been doing it wrong this entire time!!!

“because youd rather cry ableism than dealing with your mental illnesses”

Yes, because it’s SO. MUCH. FUN. to watch literally everyone I know lead these great fulfilling lives while I have to plan a simple trip to Walgreens days in advance (and god help me if I can’t get the medication required to allow this, which is almost always because the US is dealing with a nationwide shortage of this specific medication right now).  Nevermind the fact that I’ve actively been trying to find a mental health professional that specializes in my specific list of mental illnesses since I moved last year, or the fact that medicaid only covers a handful of practicioners. 

No, I’d much rather stay disabled.  

Because that’s not Ableism 101 right there, insinuating that not only do disabled people not REALLY know what is required to tend to our mental illnesses, but that we’re CHOOSING to remain disabled.

This includes but is not limited to fear of: Using public transportation Being in open spaces Being enclosed in spaces Standing in line or being in a crowd Being outside of the home alone

Feeling super panicked today. Started off my morning at work with a panic attack first thing. Now a good start to my day, or week. I can’t allow this to set the way the rest of my week will go. I need to breathe and ground myself.