Fear and agoraphobia

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I think I may have a case of agoraphobia. During these past couple of months I have been on break from studying. The problem is I have barely left my house and feel panicked when I do, first my throat tightens up, I become hyper aware of my body and the surroundings. That is when I panic. I've noticed this only becomes a problem when I'm on break for too long and become too comfortable in one place. I'm going to see the doctor tomorrow which means a one and a half hour walk/ train trip. I'm absolutely frightened of the idea and what's worse, I start my new degree next Tuesday. I've tried breathing techniques and writing it down but it doesn't work. But what works for me are firm hugs and being in a cold environment (I'm not very good with hot weather). I really want to stay home tomorrow but I know I have to see this doctor. Does anyone have experience on this?

I have trouble leaving the house. In the past couple of months I only left the house alone once. I haven't left the house at all in 4 days and before the last time I went out I hadn't left the house in over 2 weeks.

I do...

I used to be house bound agoraphobic, and coped by things like only shopping in the middle of the night at 24/hr stores, and avoiding things like doctors or other things where I needed to be in places where other people were and or could judge me or interact with me in a way that would make me panic.

I would say that one of the things that helped me was first dealing with anxiety and panic issues while at home. By controlling the things that triggered panic attacks for me in my safe environment I was able to weaken my brains ability to freak out so easily. As I got better at that I would force myself into more and more out-in-public situations...

Something I just recently started to notice is that a lot of my anxiety about being in public places relates to over stimulation, it's the people moving around and talking and distracting that is a problem and not so much what they think about me. Perhaps you could try things to reduce overstimulation.

Unfortunately it sounds like you have a disadvantage in the time department since you go back to school next week but maybe you could ask your doctor for some advice on what to do. If you explain your symptoms they might have experience with it.

I do wish you luck, and would like to say as someone who has been through it, that I know that it is possible to recover even if its not easy to do.

I'm not sure if this is Agoraphobia, but I seem to have an intense phobia of embarrassing myself and things not going smoothly and having to react to unexpected events. It causes anxiety and the only way to avoid feeling embarrassed when things go wrong is to not go out at all.

I am OK when I'm with someone, and I don't half get as embarrassed when things go wrong as I do when I'm on my own. Even if it's just a little tiny thing, I still keep thinking everybody saw and everybody's laughing and thinking, ''look at that stupid girl!''

The things that causes anxiety going out are:-

-Slipping on ice (if it's a snowy day)
-Having a dog barking at me and jumping up at me and nobody else
-Getting something stuck in my hair or on my back or in other places where I cannot see it
-Having diarrhoea in a public toilet
-Tripping up
-Being turfed off the bench or seat on the bus by older people (usually happens to me)
-Getting in people's way
-Being confronted by bullies
-Going into ''blank mode'' when doing a task by myself like using the self-service check-outs in a supermarket with a queue of people waiting
-Object blindness - looking around for something that's sitting right in front of me, big enough to spot
-Being yelled at by someone in authority in front of everyone
-The alarm going off in a shop at the same time as I'm walking out
-Getting on the wrong bus
-Aggressive drivers bibbing their horn at me, making me feel more of a hazard than I really was

I don't like these happening to me because I never seem to react in the right way and so I usually end up looking more stupid than most other people would. When these things happen to other people, I usually feel embarrassed for them but I try not to stare at them because it makes things worse. BUT, since NTs lack empathy, I suppose they will stare and make me look more stupid. And no - they don't stare because of sympathy - they stare because they like to see how I react, and my reactions aren't very good. I panic too much, look too embarrassed, look too nervous, and don't know what to do. Other people can just laugh it off and care more how they were feeling in the situation, whereas I seem to worry more what other people were thinking and feeling in the situation and can't block them out.

infinitenull, one reason why I'm seeing a doctor is for anxiety issues such as the agoraphobia. I know it is an irrational fear, I've tried to understand why I'm so frightened and I have no idea why. Today I'm going to attempt to see the doctor and going to take the bus. Thinking about it now makes me a little frightened!

I have almost exactly the same problems, when I am alone for a long time its a lot harder to go out and preform normal tasks like food shopping, picking the mail up or waiting at a traffic light. When I panic I found that focusing on my objectives like a food lists helps for some situations, other than that I try to hurry up and get home. When I am with someone else I dont feel as panicked but more on the awkward side. I would rather not talk to a doctor about it because all they have done for me in the past is give prescriptions.

The doctor can be a scary thing... and when I seeked out treatment I went to an outpatient clinic that was held at a local institution (full on mental hospital with super special security and the whole bit)

I forced myself to do it because, like you are now... I hoped to feel better...

All I can say is keep up the great work and that I hope your doctors appointment went well!! !!

I saw the doctor and she has referred me to a psychologist for my anxiety. I guess the doctors appointment went well

I have a hard time letting the dog out in the yard or even taking out the trash. I'm not afraid to go places with others, but alone I get so goddamn paranoid. My therapist and I are working on getting me out of the house and feeling more comfortable.

That is great that you are getting help I had agoraphobia for three years and in the end it was ENTIRELY up to myself that I got over it. Got over it is merely a figure of speech in this case because it was a good four years afterwards until I have got to the point I am at now. A lot of my issues surrounding anxiety were very similar to Joe90's and resulted in me rarely leaving the house, generally not at all. It didn't help that during this period of time, I lived on a dodgy housing estate where people were really mean to me. One time for example, I had forced myself out of the house to go for a walk when a rubbish truck pulled up beside me and they honked at me just to make me jump. I burst into tears and ran home and didn't go out for weeks again after that.

Curing your agoraphobia will take time, I will not lie, but it can BE cured. That's the most important thing. I used to suffer from GAD alongside the agoraphobia plus depression. The depression made me feel so low that I wondered 'what is the point?' It was only when I was diagnosed with my alphabet soup of AS, ADHD, TS and OCD that I was able to accept that I was different for a reason and not just crazy or r-worded as many people at school had told me. I am currently suffering mildly from my agoraphobic symptoms again as I feel as if I need someone with me at all times and my social worker is worried that I am going to get worse again but I live in a village with poor transport links so that's why I don't want to go out!