agoraphobia recovery

[snoozegoblin]

I am new here! I’ve been looking for online resources since I lost my job in December and no longer have insurance.

I started suffering from panic disorder with agoraphobia in 2013. My condition was severe and it got to the point where I couldn’t leave home without anticipation anxiety or an attack.

Despite that, with a combination of CBT, medication, and exposure therapy and years of practice I managed to take a trip 6 hours away from home at the start of 2022 and since then I’ve been to Disney World and back 2 times and been on another 6 hour drive and managed to hold down a job for most of last year.

I’ve made a lot of progress and I’m really proud. This is the first year I have lived mostly panic attack free but I’ve been worried about relapse ever since losing my job and I’ve been showing some signs of it recently.

My partner and I had made walking our dog a part of our routine. I found my symptoms creeping back up on me as of late and have avoided the situation twice in the past month. I’m worried to get back into the avoidant cycle so I made a promise to push through tonight’s walk despite what symptoms may come and I’ve been ruminating on it on and off since I woke up this morning.

I’ve been out of therapy and off of medication for about a year but have been doing my best to use the tools I have learned. However, pushing myself into the phobic situation or exposure therapy is always the most difficult for me.

I have about an hour or two before our walk so hopefully I’ll be back sometime later to update everyone on how it went! In the meantime I would love some words of encouragement or any advice people have to share from their own experience with pushing through exposure therapy.

[d0nutt]

Hello!

Panic Disorder is horrible and I can only empathise with you on how debilitating and challenging it can be to push yourself completely out your comfort zone when it comes to exposure therapy.

I suffer with Anticipational anxiety (linked to IBS), and it lead to mild Agrophobia… I’ve been able to go on walks, short trips to local shops but I haven’t stepped foot in a restaurant, shopping centre or anything of the kind for years.

I suffer with anxiety when even going on the little walks most days, I find that doing some basic gratitude when on the walk helps me focus my mind and stops it from going into overdrive.

I sometimes speak out loud or my mind, listing all the things Im grateful for right now in my life.. whether thats my partner, my home, family, pets etc.

I find it helps fill me with a bit of joy too, lifting my mood as well as the overwhelming anxiety symptoms.

I hope you managed to get out on your walk, but if not don’t beat yourself up too much… there’s always tomorrow 💖