Agoraphobia

[Sierramist]

I’m just wondering has anyone here ever overcome agoraphobia?

[Skylane2000]

My brother struggled for so many years with agoraphobia I never thought he would overcome it ever.... now I see him enjoying life slowly and little by little and turning into a strong resilient young man I’m so proud of him...

[Hidden]

I think I’ll always be agoraphobic but I am doing great, it took me years but I got out of my house I have a job I still count trees and things I see when I’m walking and I always have to know how many exits there is in a building before I go in, there’s still a limit to how far I can go. It’s a hard road but it’s possible.

[Agora1 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Danielle, it's easier when we walk the road together.

I'm so proud of you and far you've gotten.

Have an amazing weekend Love, Agora xx

[Hidden in reply to Agora1]

🌻💛💛💛💛 you were always there with me walking and helping me stay calm and grounded. I love you 💛

[Jeff1943]

Sierramist, you are going to overcome your agoraphobia. Although it is a heavy cross to bear, it is only another symptom of anxiety disorder and when you recover from that then all your symptoms including agoraphobia will disperse.

Let's look at why our mind inflicts this burden on people. Your mind senses your anxiety and thinks you are in physical danger. So it tries to protect you by getting you to stay in the 'safety' of your home. This may have been helpful for our ancestors when dangerous wild animals were about but of course that's not a problem now.

So agoraphobia is your mind trying to protect you but getting it wrong.

You are not going to feel like this forever and now is as good a time as any to start your recovery. If I asked you to take a walk to your local park and you agreed to give it a try, you would probaby be fighting back the atavistic fears as you struggled to make progress.

That's where you're going wrong. You mustn't fight those fears and bad feelings: you must frame your mind to accept them. Let them come, agree to co-exist with them for the time being. Feel yourself floating forward as if some unseen force was carrying effortlessly on your way.

By accepting the bad feeling, you stop adding second fear to the flash of first fear.

Fear is the enemy and when you seek to counter it with Acceptance the flow of fear hormones is stemmed. Your nervous system begins to lose its ultra sensitivity and eventually returns to normal. At that point you will lose your fear of the great outdoors. Soon may that day come.

[Thyb in reply to Jeff1943]

@Jeff1943. Sounds like something from Dr Claire Weekes Books/Cassettes. (Only thing that helped me 38 years ago was listening to her cassettes consistently.

GP/Psychiatrists didn't help nor truly understand.....Acceptance to the physical/emotional feelings/desensitising the fear adrenal fear is the 'cure'

[Jeff1943 in reply to Thyb]

You are of course right, Thyb, I am a great advocate here of Claire Weeke's method: Face, Accept, Float, Let time pass as set out in her first book 'Self help for your nerves'. She died 30 years ago and her biography has just been published titled 'Claire Weekes - the woman who cracked the anxiety code'. That sums her up well. Like you I have much to thank her for starting 45 years ago.