Is this Agoraphobia or something else?

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When I am at home and know I need to go out to get groceries or go to the bank or whatever, I sometimes get this feeling of panic and have the urge to just stay indoors all day and not do the errands I was planning to do. I just can't face the people, the traffic, the noise of kids, the walking back and forth, and just the general idea of being out. No its not laziness. It's just a feeling of anxiety I suddenly get. I get this feeling when I'm putting my shoes on, and I either force myself to just go out, or I take my shoes back off and go and do an indoor activity, feeling rather relieved and safe. Is this agoraphobia or just social anxiety? Does anybody else feel like this?

I get this, but my anxiety does not come from being out in public.

I get more anxious about wondering if I am going to have everything together. Did I remember my list? Did I write everything down? How long is this going to take? Am I going to be able to finish what I am doing in time to get to the store in time and finish shopping in time for whatever else comes after?

Shopping is always a big production for me. I hate grocery shopping and have gotten to the point where I don't go until my kitchen is as sparse as Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard. I also hate shopping for clothing and shoes and don't go but maybe once a year or possibly even less. I often wait until it is necessary to replace worn clothes or shoes.

For me, the issue is not the social nature of shopping but the planning and preparing. It is totally an executive functioning issue.

I have had many, many times when I have made lists and forgotten things at the store that I WROTE DOWN. My eyes would just skip that line. I used to clip coupons to try to save money and spent time trying to match them up to sales. Inevitably, things would happen and I wouldn't get out of the house that week. The flyers would change, and all my work was a waste.

Now, I go to a discount no-name grocery store. I don't even make a list anymore. I go to the store and put whatever I want in the cart. I know that if I fill up the cart, it will cost me about $200 (for my family of 4.) No grocery list, no coupons, no flyers. It's a small store, less crowds, smaller parking lot. More predictable. It has made my life SO MUCH EASIER. I still don't go often because I am too busy. It is one of those areas where I have absolutely given up trying to do things the "normal" or "best" way. I do what I do to accommodate myself.

I used to have anxiety in restaurants.

Not sure if it's because I was bullied at school.

I have the exact type of feelings as you do. I am not sure where it stems from, if it is my autism or other issues though. It is a bit of mild agoraphobia but I don't know if it is a side effect from my autism or my complex PTSD/Desnos.

It is nice to know I am not alone in this feeling though, at least there is somebody I can relate to.

Its social anxiety that could become agarophobia if you begin to stay indoors for longer and longer periods of time (once its permanently it is agarophobia).

One of the main triggers of social anxiety comes from the senses of sight or sound (rarely smell or touch). If you can, try to get some noise cancelling earbuds and try going out wearing them for about a week (you wont see results on the first day) and see if it reduces the anxiety when outside.

Sense of sight is usually a combination of what you see and what your mind thinks it is seeing. The thoughts of people whose eyes are pointed in your direction are looking at you and judging you in one way or another is the most common anxiety trigger. Strangely enough, the eye to eye contact is what seems to be the biggest trigger of these thoughts... and many psychologists recommend you try to wear sunglasses that are not see-through (aka other people cannot see your eyes). The reason is simple: Humans have two semi-reflexive actions with the eyes when it comes to dealing with other humans: One is to look at you in the face (usually the eyes) and the other is to look at female breasts/cleavage (yes, even women do this..its a nursing reflex). By wearing the sunglasses you are 'breaking' other people's reflex action so they wont be looking at your eyes as often. One study showed eyewear like this reduced eye-to-eye contact by 70 something %.

Try the sunglasses and noise cancelling earbuds..separately then together and see if that helps you.

This, plus 1. I've had all of the OP's feelings, as well. What I have found, is.... You know that old theory about "What's in motion, stays in motion----what's at rest, stays at rest"?? Well, the longer one stays at rest, for instance, the longer one WANTS to stay, at rest!! ! NOT that we're lazy----but, just that it's way more safe / comfortable / secure, at HOME. I have also found that the more I try to shelter myself from something, the more uncomfortable I am, when I encounter it. For instance, the more I shelter myself from sound, the more sensitive I am to it.

I do try to defeat these feelings of Agoraphobia, which is why sometimes I do force myself to go out. But other times I just feel too anxious to go out.

To be honest, I seem to have severe Agoraphobia at night, that's not nearly as bad as what I get in the day. I can't even force myself to go out at night, unless it's something that is part of my routine, like going round the corner to see my aunt in the evening. But I hate being out later at night, particularly on week-end nights, in places like high streets. I love high streets in the day, even though they get crowded, because I feel safe. But at night, everything seems different, and people seem different. Once I went into the supermarket late in the evening, and I didn't like it at all. There seemed to be a lot of people with sort of aggressive body language, and there was teenagers everywhere; boys gathering outside and girls inside, some trying to get cigarettes from customer service whilst others were mucking about up the aisles. Yes I know there was no people in my way or screaming toddlers, I still felt uncomfortable with the atmosphere. I'd much prefer to go into the supermarket when it's noisy and crowded.

My therapist who, on the second appointment, picked up on the likelihood of autism (which I'd suspected for years), did it by discussing with me what I'd thought of as Agoraphobia.

He suspects it's sensory issues (and possibly dealing with the random) that make it hard for me to go outside and cause me to get drained when I do.

I've done that many a time.

I have a hodgepodge of anxiety and sensory issues. I also have experienced what Campin_Cat mentioned about acclimating to surroundings with time.