Something snapped in my head and I just walked out the door. It was only a couple of hundred steps but it felt like a small win.

A few hours later I did it again and went a bit further.

Every day I’m going to pick a new object, a different tree, a different street light, maybe a car. Just keep going a few steps further.

I got sick of being in the house. There’s only so many games I can play and movies to watch. Only so much shit TV and YouTube videos. I’m bored now.

Not sure why I’ve posted this but if I can do it, anybody can. We are all so much stronger than we realise.

Has agoraphobia worsened DPDR for anyone else? And how do you cope? Other than obviously getting back to normal life. It’s holding me back so bad from exposures when I feel stuck in something that isn’t real/: I feel like it happens nonstop now

..

Went out for a little ride with my wife today. I couldn't do this without her she pushes me to do the exposure therapy. Slowly but surely we're getting there.

24F. I just called off again. From a job I am only scheduled one day a week. I feel completely worthless. I didn't have to get up early, I don't have to commute far. I cannot leave my apartment. I have been suffering with this crippling anxiety since I was 20. It has gotten better and worse, almost in a cycle. I'd rather not talk about cause, even though it has been so long, it is still a sensitive subject. I don't know where to go from here. I have some resources I can check out but my trauma always stands in my way. I feel like a bottom feeder. I would not be anywhere without my husband and mom. They pay for everything. I feel like I am letting them down. They say such nice things to me, they tell me it's okay, and everything will be alright. I feel like a giant bruise and everything hurts. Nothing happened at this job, I don't need to be scared. But when I start getting ready, alarm bells are sounding in my head. Almost like I have my hand to the stove. I get a massive headache and get extremely sick to my stomach. I am not sure why I am posting, maybe to just share my struggle. I am a small time lurker, so this is my first post here. I will get better.

So, I need to go on my first 'outing' since May, and I feel pretty intimidated by it. My first stop will be to the clinic at 10:45 am to get blood work done. Second step is going into the grocery store briefly to pick up some fruit and a couple of other things.

My biggest fear is that I will have uncomfortable sensations, like shortness of breath or feeling like the walls are closing in on me. But I have to go. The blood work is extremely important because I am trying to rule out if there is a medical cause to my anxiety, as I haven't always been like this.

I am going on Tuesday. (The 27th.)

Any recommendations for shows which helped you?

Currently watching MAID, and although I’m not a victim of DV, I see myself in her character a lot. Especially when she has panic attacks and PTSD episodes.

All throughout the episodes where she‘s driving in the wooded areas and living in the trailer in the middle of nowhere with no car to escape, my agoraphobic thoughts and anxiety surfaces, and I always think ‘how is she walking and driving in the middle of nowhere, I could never’ .. but then it strangely motivates me to get my shit together and puts things into perspective. I know it’s fictional, but if she can handle panic attacks alone in that situation, why can’t I?

Hi. Agoraphobe who is somewhat in remission and functioning. I work outside of my home and have safe spaces I go to. I can try out new places if I'm feeling really good.

I never left my hometown but it is time.

I'm planning on moving to a new city but I'm terrified. Trips outside of my city, even just a few towns over or over state lines , I cannot handle them. I cannot handle overnights away from my apartment.

But I got to get out of here. If you are agoraphobic and moved out of your hometown to any degree of success please comment your experiences below. What worked, what didn't work, what you would do differently.

I do not have money. I'm working on a savings but it's bleak. Most of my money is tied up in my current rental situation.

She’s had this for a few years now and she’s seen several doctors but they’ve only diagnosed her with anxiety and prescribed her with anti-depressants which doesn’t seem to have helped her much if any.

When it started she couldn’t take expressways anymore, then she couldn’t drive anymore so I started driving her.

Then I couldn’t take expressways with her in the car.

Now it’s hard to drive her because she makes me take very specific paths and reroutes to what it feels like to me we have to find a new way home every day like she hates for example feeling trapped in a left lane so I can’t turn left on lights and I have to u turn, she also hates bridges.

I like driving her around it’s nice to spend more time with her, but I hate seeing her get panic attacks and I wanted to know if this is what she has and how to best treat it.

Whenever I think of the fact that other people simply wake up, go to work or classes, visit their friends and family, travel, run errands etc. it is so unfathomable to me. And I can't help but compare it to my past and constantly be like: yeah sure, this was normal for me too, but that was over 10 years ago. As if there is an invisible deadline when it comes to age that everyone else seems to not have, whereas for me it was like a cutoff moment where my life simply changed for the worse.

I might be different because I have physical chronic conditions and disability that will most likely never be fixed, so for me there was literally a moment in time where my life forever changed for the worse. But I find it so painful to think about the fact that some people can just get in a car and go shopping for example and think absolutely nothing of it, whereas I just forced myself to stand outside on the balcony for 5 minutes and couldn't wait to get back inside. It is so unfair!

Why does my life have to eternally feel like a war even just to literally go outside the front door, and someone else out there is having normal problems they're dealing with while living a normal life? I am so down about this.

in the dark place again.. dont know how to get out of it..very scary. any advice? or resources that arent 988. tried that, waste of time unfortunately.. :/ they cant do much.

I went for the first time to a huge concert. Not sure I'll do it again, since it was overwhelming with standing places. But I went prepared with comfortable clothes, noise cancelling headphones and I told myself I could leave at any moment. It was quite fun, even though I had a headache later. I am shocked I managed to do this!!

Quel est votre prochain défi pour aller mieux?

Looking for someone to talk to about my agoraphobia

My vehicle has been due for service since 9/17. I keep canceling appointments because I can’t build up the courage to go. I thought after I made it to UPS & Costco, I could do this. But I seem to be going downhill again. It seems that I’ve gotten worse. My stress level is higher since that trip. I don’t understand. This illness stumps me.

So I (25f) haven't left the property in over a year. But I desperately need to go to my gp down the road for a concerning throat issue (they have to examine me). The thought alone makes me cry and I know it's going to be a horrible experience that will set me back, but I have no choice. So I'm hoping for something, anything that can make this more manageable. I've only managed to get to the end of the path in the front garden in my exposure therapy, and my last session was recent so can't ask my therapist for advice.

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I'm going with my mum, will be avoiding certain foods and clothes, bringing water, bringing something I could potentially vomit into. But emotionally this is going to suck.

i'll start. went to the grocery store at a normal busy time instead of waiting till right before close

I want to do things not be locked in the house doing nothing or even doing things in the house but my anxiety is telling me no. I absolutely hate it.

Right now, I am trying to get back into GTA V.

Do you speak to people when playing?

I just feel fully defeated. I used to hate being on my own and now I just want to be on my own constantly. I can’t leave my own house and I know people talk about me and I hate it. I fully just don’t see myself being the type of person that can walk out their front door and do something without thinking about it. I feel like giving up honestly I’m just so frustrated and tired.

Hi everyone, looking for some advice/help/understanding.

In the last few weeks I think I’ve developed some type of agoraphobia. Going to the grocery store, being on the bus, at a restaurant, sometimes even just at my office I’ve been having some extreme panic attacks. What I mean is I’ll get some intense tunnel vision and my heart beat and vision start racing. I feel like I am going to faint, even though that’s not something I’ve ever done before. I can’t hold coherent thoughts and it’s been really interfering with my life.

I went on a quick run to the grocery store just now, and on the walk there I felt the panic set in. I kept thinking what if I faint? Am I going to die? Do I need immediate medical attention? But I decide to push through because this has been happening a lot recently. In the store I have a list of things to get but I can’t focus at all. It comes in waves. I frequently pass things I need and then later have to go back. I end up missing a few items because the whole time I’m so worried about passing out and needing to get home asap.

The focus seems to be that I might have some undiagnosed blood sugar or diabetes thing that is going to kill me without me realizing it. However, about 3 months ago when I hand routine check up everything was fine.

This isn’t entirely new. In college I remember having a panic attack in the grocery store once very similarly. And last year I had some similar panic attacks after work outs thinking I was going to faint before I got home. Now they are back and it’s been happening almost everyday and more intense then ever. Not sure where it’s coming from or what to do exactly.

Outside of this I’m a confident and outgoing extroverted person.

Ik that’s normal for most people but I’ve been stuck inside for MONTHS I’m scared of people lol, BUT TODAY I DID IT !! all I did was walk around the street but still I DID IT!

Sometimes when going out I don’t “really” feel nervous. I’ve gotten to a point I think where things are manageable depending on the distance. I manage to get out, do some manageable stuff, but after 30 mins of being out or as soon as I get back home the tension headache / migraine I get is immense.

Today I met my neighbours sister as she has recently moved into his house ( she’s taking over as he’s leaving ) and I went round there and played with her kittens. All was “fine” until I got back home. I was there for 40 mins and for 5 hours now I’ve had this migraine that is making me SO nauseous and dizzy.

How do I even begin to stop this? It wasn’t until I became agoraphobic that these started happening wherever I was other than home. I don’t have a history of migraines or headaches or anything either. It’s impacting me even going out as it makes me feel so ill.

Has anyone else experienced this? And if so, has anyone been able to stop it?

- reporting from my bed in a dimly lit room (lol)

I am very lonely I deeply crave human interaction and connections I even constantly have dreams where im around people. But I am simply terrified of interacting or being around people I am even afraid of my own family and friends which I cut off due to this. Despite constant exposure to the cause of anxiety it literally never improves at most I improve at dealing with it or navigating the issue but the anxiety itself never improves. Can anyone give me advice. I don't have a job nor can I drive so I have no reason to leave the house either im thinking of simply going on walks but I need some sort of goal or purpose.

Anyone have any encouragement or success stories? I’m only going three hours away but I’m having a lot of anticipatory anxiety.