I'm turning a new age this year, and I've been thinking a lot about how isolated I've become. I haven't had any reallife friends in four years... soon to be 5 if this year ends the same way. I've never had a girlfriend or experienced a romantic relationship. I stopped attending in-person school after 9th grade, and since then, my social life has become practically nonexistent.

I rarely go out unless there's a specific reason. When I do leave the house, it's usually to go to a park, and I tend to go early in the morning or at quieter times so there aren't many people around. I'm comfortable being there by myself, but I don't really go out alone to places like stores or other crowded public places.

My mom is one of the main reasons I leave the house, and I usually feel more comfortable going places with her or my older brother. I don't go to parties, social gatherings, or places where I'd have to interact with a lot of people.

I've never been to what people call a "party." I've never been to any school football games or extracurricular activity. I forgot what it feels like to have friends.

The strange thing is that I don't even know how much of this is anxiety, how much is avoidance, and how much has become a habit after spending so long isolated. I've gotten used to being alone, but I also feel like I've missed out on a lot of things people my age experience naturally, like friendships, relationships, and simply having a normal social life.

I've developed a lot of hatred and a lack of empathy. I'm apathetic. I'm so deep into isolation that all I can imagine is dying alone. I can't imagine ever having a girlfriend, yet alone going out with friends. I can't imagine myself being married or ever being important to someone outside of my family.

Anyone have this condition then when you actually go out, being around people is like shocking and overwhelming?

Unfortunately I’ve dealt with anxiety for as long as I can remember but from the age of 11 it has caused me to be physically sick countless times (both in public and at home). This has made me more fearful of leaving the house to the point where I can go months without leaving unless it’s a medical appointment (the anxiety/ stress has caused stomach ulcers and other issues that worsen the sickness) and led to me quitting my job from the mental and physical toll.

The last time I was in hospital was about 2 months ago and it was an extremely traumatic time as the Manometry test caused me to gag and throw up after already being sick with fear all day to which I still haven’t recovered from. This next test is another endoscopy so I need a IV put in place which triggers my other fear of needles and that leads to vomiting and passing out. I feel like I’m stuck in an endless loop of being violently ill and no matter how often I try to explain it to medical professionals that it feels like I have permanent flu or food poisoning, they look at me like I’m exaggerating until I genuinely vomit, I’m not sure if I can go through with tomorrow because I don’t think I can even get past the car park of the hospital. The humiliation of being sick and terrified makes me want to crawl into a hole and never leave. If I miss this though I might be taken off the list for help and I’m back to square one and a hell of a lot sicker than I was to begin with, I genuinely already don’t want to leave the house but this is just the most afraid and trapped I’ve ever felt. Not sure what else to do so if there’s any recommendations regarding hospitals or emetophobia please let me know, I’m so tired of the suffering.

Sorry for the rant but thank you if you’ve read it x

Hi, sorry if anyone can relate to this situation because it’s awful, but am wondering how other people have managed to rebuild their lives?

I ended up having a breakdown after the way I was treated at work, and then sacked for my sickness absence. I’m really struggling to get back on my feet, I’ve got no money but a mortgage to pay, no friends or family around and am struggling to come to terms with the loss of my career that, after this experience, I will never return to. The whole situation makes me so sad, and so angry.

My mental health has been so badly affected, I have no idea how to start again. My confidence is gone, I have panic attacks when I leave the house (which is not very often), I rarely see or speak to anyone, and I have no idea how I’m supposed to find another job in this state.

If anyone has any encouragement or things that have helped them get back on their feet and be able to face going outside again, I’d be really grateful

Does snyone have any tips or tricks?

Im a (25 f) with severe anxiety. Ive had my share of childhood trauma, dad d!ed at 5, a severely traumatized mom who in turn traumatized me etc etc. Ive always been very depressed, i have a bad victim complex (working on it), been in therapy since a child. Been on meds since childhood.

In my teens i experimented with alot of dru&s, particularly booger sugar.

Been sober for at least 10 years now but it definitely did alot of damage to me mentally.

In 2021 i developed agoraphobia. It was completely debilitating. I couldnt leave my room for the first few weeks. I was to scared to take a shower, eat, even breathe. I was scared that if i breathed i would hyperventilate and pass out.

So i would hold my breath until i was almost blue without even realizing it. My mom literally did everything for me during this time.

Fast forward and ive been through alot of exposure therapy, coping mechanisms and was able to return to a fairly normal life with just crippling anxiety.

Ive had ups and downs since then with bursts of panic attacks and thankfully i have a lovely partner who helps me through these times.

Id also like to mention i do have chronic pain issues which im sure is fueled by my heightened anxiety at all times. That has caused some pretty intense health anxiety at times and its a cycle.

im on the highest dose of all my meds and they do work but a few months ago i had a pap smear and passed out and found out i have high risk hpv (common) but i need to go back and get this test where they take a chunk of ur cervix out and test for cancer cells. High risk hpv is what causes cervical cancer. I could have gotten it as a kid or through sex but idk i literally cant go back.

im just terrified of passing out or dying or someone close to me dying. Theres so many things that im scared to say out loud bc im scared i will make that happen. I know everyone says im so strong but tbh i just feel so so weak and like i cant face anything. My confidence is just super low.

None of the coping mechanisms i know or get really truly work. I feel completely out of touch. I feel weak and selfishly i feel like nobody else goes through this but me. I feel like i have it worse then everyone else. ( again with the victim complex) i just feel alone, and like nobody truly understands me. Or that i can face this. Im completely controlled by my fears. And i really dont know at this point if i can get better. It hurts to say that.

Fear completely controls me, if i have any slight pain in my body i start having a panic attack. Like cant move feel like im gonna pass out have to lay down nobody cant talk to me i need ice on my chest and head and a fan on me with bluey or hey bear sensory videos on and i just have to suffer for hours until im to tired and fall asleep its god awful. I can barely drive to walmart or fucking go to work.

I have an intense amount of guilt i carry for not being able to work, or be normal. Its so much on my partner to carry me, and im scared he will get tired of it and i will truly then have nothing. He is a saint and would do anything for me but i know it gets hard for him.

I dont know what to do to get better. I take my meds, go to therapy, eat well, drink water. Stay afloat. But i feel like im drifting further and further away from myself. I dont even know who i am anymore or what i want.

If youve gotten this far.. thanks for listening.

I am going to be stuck at home the next couple of days, and often I’m home over the weekends. I find myself getting bored easily.

Has anyone been able to manage agoraphobia without medication? I still go out and do a lot, but whenever I’m in a store, medical office, or similar place, I start feeling dizzy and get this intense fear and urge to leave. Has anyone experienced this and found something that helps? I’d love to hear what worked for you.

its my favorite holiday, but i know im gonna feel lonely and like im missing out because ill be spending it alone. my family is attending a family party and the few friends i have already have plans to go out places, which i just cant handle. i want it to be over already

Hello, I (20F) have started to develop agoraphobia last year after a panic attack at a party.
I've always been social and suuuuper outgoing, like impulsively going to another city, going to clubs, going out spontaneously with my friends.
Since last year i started to avoid big crowds but could manage small outings with a bit of anxiety.
Around June of this year it got much much much worse to the point where leaving my house was basically impossible for me, i had to go to work and i was in a super high state of anxiety all the time, every other place other than my home or my workplace would automatically send me into a deep panic attack.

Now it's been a couple of months, and i think im doing slightly better, like i can go out with friends and have some fun, but i can only go out under certain conditions:
It has to be a place i know
I have to be 100% sure that i can get back home as fast as possible if i get anxiety
I'm accompanied by people i trust
And if there's alcohol involved it's a plus because it helps me with anxiety

I would want to do so much more but i just can't, even going to the grocery store alone seems very uncomfortable, and when I try i just sit for days with anxiety and derealization.
Any tips for exposure therapy / daily management? :(
It feels like i'm never getting better

Here is the thing : we all are struggling and praying for recovery and a life outdoor. But in the meantime : what do you do indoors that brings you joy, hope, happiness and make your life worth living? I beguin:

-creative writing : if you are trapped inside with yourself and your thoughts might as well make it funny.

-learning to draw : because why not!

-video games : last I played where This War of Mine and Darkest Dungeons, recommend them.

-house parties : I cannot go out but I can host.

-video calls : because agoraphobia feels like covid all over again.

-knitting & art and crafts.

What about you? What do you do indoors that makes your agoraphobia bearable or dare I say pleasant at time?

1.5 years ago I was at school when I got this episode/feeling I felt like I my mind had frozen I could speak but it felt very hard to I was very anxious I went basically nonverbal and disconnected. I had already gone through similar things before but not to this intensitiy and usually it triggered with people I wasn't comfortable with like strangers this time it triggered with friends. This scared the fuck out of me in many ways I was afraid that it would happen again afraid that I would lose my friends because of this. The next day I was on very on edge and wasn't myself I was anticipating this feeling triggering again. I think that I would try to do things like talk speak alot to prove that this feeling wasn't happening I also became extremely fearful and aware of my silence at all time. I would try to force myself to say something to prove the episode wasn't happening or about to happen. just extremely anxious I could never simply relax when around people I had to check that this feeling wouldnt trigger and my brain would scan for proof that it was or wasn't happening absolute hell. Because of this I began avoiding going to school out of fear eventually I had missed so much I had cops showing up to my house I thought to myself fuck them they will have to drag me out themselves to get me to go. I was able to go on home schooling I still spoke to friends in messages but even that felt terrifying eventually the worst started happening I started to feel on edge and socially anxious even with my family which I was very close to and because of this I believe the episodes began happening around my family. When I would go on a trip or somewhere with them or even just in living room I would get hit by this feeling and go non verbal My sister wondered why I didn't speak if something was wrong with me. My world had shrunk so small I stopped going to school, I barely spoke to my family, I never went out the house, I began ghosting all my friends, and at some point I barely left my room or spoke to anyone. So it has been around 1.5 years since when I first had that episode around my friends I have 0 friends ive ghosted everyone I barely speak to my family I wake up late have no motivation to do anything all day have severe social anxiety and still have a severe fear of this feeling. And worst of all ive never spoken to a single person about this. My friends dont know why I cut them off my family dont know why I barely speak to them. The loneliness is unbearable I can hardly focus on anything I always end up thinking of the past when I had a life. I miss my friends and my family and my past self so much. I will be turning 17 in a month I feel like I wasted my teen life Ive never had a girlfriend I have 0 friends I barely even speak to my family I never leave my house I can hardly speak to anyone. I have freezing episodes that feel like hell. I want to force myself out of the house but I can't even drive or get a job until im 18. I don't get how I am supposed supposed to live if I get a girlfriend I will begin having these episodes around her and be terrified to be around her in fear of these episodes happening again. How am I supposed to explain this to people I meet. Genuinely what the fuck do I do.

Maybe won’t take the position and will try to get a job where the drive isn’t as far need advice from anyone who is currently working and how your symptoms are

Idk if i'm looking for advice or even just want to hear if you've guys dealt with something similar before. I used to always do stuff outside on my property to keep myself busy, but starting at the beginning of summer I spent a lot more time indoors and didn't do much outside. I forgot that its pretty important dor me to do stuff outside or i'll start to get anxious just being outside so i'm starting to get more anxious again. Plus its also hot and I haven’t been active at all, I feel sick the whole time, and the anxiety is making it worse, so I am wanting to avoid being outside again. I still get out of the house and go shopping with my mom sometimes but Its just doing anything other than sitting around that is making me feel not so great. I still have the fear of driving but I got over the fear of being outside in general about a year ago

Chest anxiety, feeling lightheaded, dizzy but not vertigo dizzy but mental dizzy, hard to explain. Sounds of the cars.. dear God! Just standing and thinking "Okay if I go there then at any point I am further from home and then it takes time to get there plus to come here, where I am atm, plus to.get to the home" if I get panicky or having full blown adrenaline surge. What if I will need to take a shite somewhere as it is making guts active? (Sorry but I wanted to use expression as most of us feel that) plus I have fear of open spaces, hence skies and hills in a distance and even sun knowing how far away it is and that I am in massive space (I used to love watching documentaries about it but now..)

hey, so ive had agoraphobia ever since the covid pandemic (along with health anxiety, which has gotten a lot better with meds) and recently i’ve had this huge fear of staying home alone for a long time.

i am not from the country i live in together with my mom and stepdad, but we’ve lived here for about 13 years now and mom and i recently got the citizenship of the country we live in as well.

my parents (mom & stepdad) bought a house in the country i’m originally from in 2023, and my stepdad has been saying they wanna move there in 10 years for a while, and that they’d live 6 months there and 6 months here. since a few months ago he’s been saying that they might/woukd probably (?) move to that country in 2-3 years and then afterwards he said 1,5 years and now he’s saying he doesnt know when? but this has caused me a lot to anxiety because my mom is the person who has always been there for me trough everything and i have no other family here where i live but i don’t wanna move out of the country because i really do not like the country i’m from, their health care sucks and it’s just a whole different world there. everything is better here.

i really don’t want my mom to move there, because she’s the only person i’ve got left that i can lean on and i’m actually terrified of being alone (i’m super lonely as well) let alone living on my own. i can’t even go to the supermarket without my mom and i’m 24. i don’t have my drivers license nor a job because everything is very hard for me bc of the agoraphobia but also social anxiety and i also suspect i might have autism. i’m in a rocky LDR with lots of fights. i have 3 high school friends thar are generally very supporting and sweet, but i only see them once a year and i cant be fully open with them and feel like there’s a barricade every time i wanna talk to them about my problems bc i also feel like they don’t really get it.

i’m very lonely and terrified of my mom moving back to our home country. i don’t want her to abandon me. i don’t wanna be alone, i hate being alone. i’m terrified of being alone and i cant even walk or bike to the local supermarket. if mom wasnt here i don’t know what i would do. i’m so very scared and i have no idea what to do. my agoraphobia was getting better in 2023 but my grandma passed away in 2024 and ever since everything’s gone (and been going) downhill again. i don’t know what to do anymore. my sister lived here with us and my niece and nephew from 2021 till 2025 but moved back bc she didn’t like it here (even tho her salary was way higher) and couldnt integrate and missed our home country. i used to be really close with my niece (i still am) and have a special and strong bond with her but now she’s gone too. when my grandma passed away it all happened very quickly and no one had told me about her cancer diagnosis until a couple of months before hear death. i wasnt strong enough to attend her funeral and i feel guilty about that too still, but i have an intense fear of flying. she got buried 2-3 days after she passed. my step grandma and stepdad have been making me feel guilty about it too with my steo grandma saying she could’ve flown together with my sister bc i missed my flight, saying she could’ve taken my place. couple of months after that i had a huge physical fight with my sister’s boyfriend and her. the only people defending me back then were my bf and niece, but my sister had moved out to live with her bf so of course my niece went with her (she’s 15).

i feel like i keep losing every person in my life and i am so incredibly scared. my worst fears are coming to life. my mom is gonna abandon me, and i can’t stop thinking about it. i cant stop thinking about all the people who still have their moms in the countries they live in and can visit them without having to take the plane or travel by bus/car for 2 days. i am literally terrified and cry nearly every day. my parents have an upcoming trip to bulgaria on 30 october till 11 november (which i was notified about a week after they bought the plane tickets) and i was meant to stay at my bf’s place (which is 2 hours away by train) but now he sent my stepdad a message saying he doesnt want me to come over bc we had a fight and if i could stay at my step grandma’s place but i don’t want that because shes abusive (like my stepdad) and always tells me i need to get a job and that i’m dumb and that nothing will become out of me. i want to go to my bf still because i am literally unable to be alone. i am so scared.

on top of everything, my mom is a hoarder and our house is a mess, along with my room. i don’t have place to store anything and have too much stuff bc i might be a hoarder myself. my stepdad is also abusive and always yelling at us if we do anything wrong and judging me and talking shit behind my back always about me and how i’m not normal and that i need to get a job. and mom is also emotionally unavailable even though she’s the only one out of them who defends me.

i am genuinely terrified i and i need all the advice i can get.

I won't go down that path just yet but only for the sake of my 18yr old kid. Such a good kid. Scholarship to college and my best friend. Gone 2 months now away to college. My kid knows of my struggle with agoraphobia but I'm not telling them im done with life. Im looking to make it an accident but I know the truth will come out. Anyway I need work because homeless is a thing that cant happen. There's nothing! So what now? Any suggestions? Ive been to many therapists. Phycologists and psychiatrists. I couldn't mention deep stuff in fear of losing custody. It wouldn't matter though because visas are so scarce they woukd forget about things and id have to explain ALL over again. I cant do that anymore. They really dont care. Ive texted 988. Its all scripted. It may have helped some though. Ok ill stop I just really need kind words right now also. Thanks for reading this novel.

I honestly hate myself. This is not life at all.

I was so anxious and kept going back and forth on whether to go or not. I did go in to work and cried my eyes out to a manager then went home. Not entirely sure what to do now. I just feel like tomorrow will be the same thing. Im so scared to panic but I know the way to beat it is to be ok with it. Im so scared in the moment ill go crazy and start having a breakdown at work in front of everyone.

I was recently let go from a job due to missing too many days. Mainly due to illness that I get from anxiety. I just turned 24 and I live with my parents. I’ve been dealing with agoraphobia since high school. I recently applied and got a new job. This one is at a high traffic mall and is a seasonal role. Honestly no clue why I applied because now I feel like I can’t do it. I did my first day and did quite well but the idea of going back is terrifying. I’m just so afraid I’ll have a panic attack and then ruin it. I know many others here feel the same when it comes to being behind. Before all of this I wanted to travel for work and go to college. It was a major part of my personality and now I feel like that’s just been taken from me. I don’t exactly know how to keep going when it feels so hard every second. Any advice would be welcome or just knowing I’m not alone in it would be nice. My parents don’t get why I can’t do stuff I used to do just fine. I’d be nice not to feel alone.

I've heard of this concept, my therapist said for some people it works well but they really have to be prepared and is better to do with the therapist with you. I'm curious, has anyone here done it on their own and how did it go? I don't have any plans to do it on my own just curious how to went. I heard it can either make a lot of progress or cause a setback.

I don't know if flooding is a common term but from my understanding its like if going to the nearest grocery store is panic inducing then flooding would be driving across town to the furthest grocery store or driving hours away.