Agoraphobia

[Concernedgal]

I think that I should discuss the possibility of agoraphobia to my doctor monday. Check this out . This sounds just like me. Omg.

 

[janemariesayed]

Look at the way 'Safe Zone' has been cut off into half! This is how we who suffer from agoraphobia feel about safety when we are out! What a coincidence! I know I am agoraphobic, even though I can go out. I don't like to go out because I don't want anyone to see me. I feel that everyone is watching me, even though I know that is unreasonable to think. I feel, because of the incest thing, that I must stand out as being different from the rest of the crowd. Even though I don't look any different from anyone. Government places scare me into panic attacks. They ask me questions that I find difficult to answer at the click of a finger. The questions they ask trigger things from my past and usually, within an hour I have a panic attack. I can't avoid it though if I am in a place of authority, I have to tell them what they want to know and then suffer a panic attack later. This is one of the reasons I've been told to go and sort my head out.

I'm also paranoid about safety. I don't want to get political, but I was told things while I lived in Egypt and I see them coming to pass now I have returned home to my Country. I hate being at bus stations or crowded places. Even though I know I am as safe as the next person, I still feel that I have left my safe zone when I left my house. I can get to it but never straightaway. I'm frightened to go out because if I meet someone, make a new friend, they may end up doing something to hurt me. I don't want to see anyone. I would be happiest if I lived on a desert island with my dogs but how is that possible? My problem is that I have to live in a society that has people in it. My fear is of people and that is why I get agoraphobic.

Agoraphobia is a difficult one to explain. Well done for finding the information. If you get any more info on it please share it. I'm trying to understand my own agoraphobia myself. I know that I can go out, but very rarely do because of how I feel. I make any excuse possible to not leave the house. When I have to go out for an appointment, I start to get panicky that morning. I feel sick and get irritable. I shout at my dogs for no reason and find that my thoughts get very negative. My chest starts to feel shaky and then I want to cry. Once I've managed to get out of the appointment, the symptoms leave me as quickly as it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Do you get therapy @Concernedgal ?

 

[Concernedgal]

I do but, it's outpatient like CBT therapy. Which is so time consuming. I'm not a very patient person and I told my psychiatrist 1 time that I wanted to quit and she didn't like that very much. Lol. I have plenty more information on agoraphobia. In my next post.

 

[Concernedgal]

Here's more on it. Go to anxietycoach.com. for much more info.

 

[Alex]

As a child I was agoraphobic and hated going out or even seeing people, and would hide when people came to visit. Basically if I don't have to go out then I won't. At my worst I would stand on my doorstep and throw rubbish bags outside on the night before they were to be collected, but so late that no one would see me.

I still prefer not to go out, and people find it strange. When I was in New York, I used to stay in my hotel room and the cleaners would moan and ask why i would stay in my room. It was my choice, I only go out when I have to and with a reason, then do what I have to then return. I'm better now, but still there is a feeling of what is in your comfort zone, and being in public with no control is again a fear.

I do understand, and to be honest there were times I refused to answer the door to anyone and was glad to have a porch so parcels could be left without me having to answer the door. I think it's about being able to control what happens in your environment and outside of your home you can't. Even in your home you can't always, for example we had a power cut the other day. What can I say? You know that you can cope and survive, but you just prefer not to be outside if you can help it.

Often when I do go out I have to prepare and psych myself up still, and when I lived alone, it was much harder and wouldn't leave for days unless I had to.

 

[Concernedgal]

I've never exactly been diagnosed with agoraphobia. What do they do about treatment options if I am @Alex?

 

[Concernedgal]

As a child I was agoraphobic and hated going out or even seeing people, and would hide when people came to visit. Basically if I don't have to go out then I won't. At my worst I would stand on my doorstep and throw rubbish bags outside on the night before they were to be collected, but so late that no one would see me.

I still prefer not to go out, and people find it strange. When I was in New York, I used to stay in my hotel room and the cleaners would moan and ask why i would stay in my room. It was my choice, I only go out when I have to and with a reason, then do what I have to then return. I'm better now, but still there is a feeling of what is in your comfort zone, and being in public with no control is again a fear.

I do understand, and to be honest there were times I refused to answer the door to anyone and was glad to have a porch so parcels could be left without me having to answer the door. I think it's about being able to control what happens in your environment and outside of your home you can't. Even in your home you can't always, for example we had a power cut the other day. What can I say? You know that you can cope and survive, but you just prefer not to be outside if you can help it.

Often when I do go out I have to prepare and psych myself up still, and when I lived alone, it was much harder and wouldn't leave for days unless I had to.

I remember when I was in kindergarten. I wouldn't corporate in anything activity or wouldn't even try to learn anything. According to my mother... I would hide in a corner and not wanna be seen or heard. I failed kindergarten for being "non-social" I can kinda remember. I do remember begging my mother not to make me go back though . Maybe without me even knowing was put through exposure therapy because my second year of kindergarten, I did fine. I suppose though as adults we are more aware ? If you know what I mean?. I guess back then we had our mothers to tell us what to do or not to do. So as adults when we can do what we want, then we simply say no to things that make us feel uncomfortable. When back then .. we couldn't. That makes it even harder in my my opinion to follow programs such as CBT or exposure therapy. Or are those both the same? Today I had a great day. I was on the verge of a panic attack. .. in response to that, I told myself ( fine, have a panic attack, see if I care) and it worked! I couldn't believe it. . That gave me hope today and now I have faith that from this day forward i'm going to be just fine.

 

[Alex]

.. in response to that, I told myself ( fine, have a panic attack, see if I care) and it worked! I couldn't believe it. . That gave me hope today and now I have faith that from this day forward i'm going to be just fine.

I'm so glad, at times we have to 'speak' to ourselves and know that we will find a way to cope. Often when I did survive each incident, I would go to sleep knowing that I coped somehow.

I've never exactly been diagnosed with agoraphobia. What do they do about treatment options if I am @Alex?

I'm not sure people always get diagnosed, you just know if you are. In my family it was just accepted that I didn't want to go out and they let me stay at home. They knew I didn't like going out and rather than fight it let me stay in my comfort zone. I don't feel it's something you can 'treat' because it depends on who lives with you, where you live, and your lifestyle. If you have people like your husband or best friend that can help you then that's the best way. I find to do short trips with a purpose helps.

I used to go and post a letter (walk) and then come straight back, or go to the store to get something like a loaf of bread. Short tasks that are necessary only, and then if a friend needed their dog walking then I would do that to help them out. Each outing had a purpose which couldn't be put off, and that's what helped me. The comfort of staying at home never goes away, but makes having to go out when necessary less of an ordeal.

 

[janemariesayed]

In my family it was just accepted that I didn't want to go out and they let me stay at home. They knew I didn't like going out and rather than fight it let me stay in my comfort zone.

My family is not like that at all. When my biological Mother came up to see me recently, she made me go out three times for menial things that didn't need it. I just have to put on that act which I hate doing. I can never be myself when I am in front of them. I also have a problem with arthritis in my hip and have problems walking the next day if I walk too much. She knows I have a problem going out, and she knows about my hip, but she just doesn't seem to care and expects me to carry on like the rest of them. She is normally gone by the next day and doesn't get to see the effect that it has on my arthritis and my hip joint swelling up. She has never witnessed what it does and I feel that she won't accept any kind of mental disability or physical disability unless she sees it. When it comes to going out, I normally keep my panic attack private in my bedroom and don't come out till its over and I can put on a brave face for her. I hate it, I hate the deception as well. I hate that she puts me through it but at the same time, I also think that it probably does me good to get out. So maybe she is doing it to do me a favour?