I get really anxious while waiting in lines. It has been happening for quite a while now. I once had a blackout (almost fainted) while waiting in line at the bank. It has also happened at a hospital and even in my school assembly line(years ago). I recently discovered it is a form of agoraphobia.

There's something that I have noticed about my anxiety while waiting in lines and I was wondering if anyone else feels this too. Whenever I get an anxiety attack I start feeling weird sensations in my head and my stomach. If I give in to the sensations of my head...I feel dizzy and get blackout. And if I give in to the sensations of my stomach...I feel the need to poop(super embarassing). This has been happening for quite some time now and I want to get better but I can't afford regular therapy atm. If anyone knows how to deal with this please help me out. Some advice would be great.

I'm in such a hole right now and need to dig myself out. I was diagnosed bipolar and have severe depressive episodes. I tend to get stuck in my house and have bad anxiety about driving and doing literally anything. if anyone has any recommendations for some good resources lmk...!

I owe literally my entire life today to that podcast and it will help you to if you are ready to hear it and want to recover. I know its hard, trust me I really do. Being bed bound for months afraid to even go to my bathroom 15 feet away was one of the wildest things I've ever experienced in my life.

You have to do the work if you want to get out, and having the right information along the way makes a word of difference.

There's no reason to not listen if you want self help and guidance, it's free. And way better than any tiktok video you'll see.

The first 30 years of my life, I never had any problems. I've been on busses, trains and planes with no issues.

I've been to different countries. Nothing bad has ever happened.

Now I cannot get on public transport at all, I also can't go on motorways.

What is going on?

Hi guys. So in additon of feeling extremely tired I have recently been feeling dizzy every time I stand up and start moving! If I am laying or sitting on a chair the feeling passes, but if I stand up I start to get dizzy like I've had a bottle of vodka last night! If I stand still the world starts to spin around me. I have been feeling this for like 2 weeks now and it does not go away. It is so weird. Since I developed this condition and my panic disorder worsened 3 months ago I keep constantly having new symptoms. One passes away, a new appears. Any physical activity is making me feel tired and dizzy and this really scares me. I have this bad habbit of reading about the symptoms and I see that these feelings are often symptoms for a heart disease and this is one of my biggest fears. Now I start thinking that all this is caused by heart problems and not the panic disorder. I think if I get too tired I will have a heart attack and this is really stopping me from living right now. Once in the near past I had an ECG and I of course had a panic attack during the test. They told me how fast and unusal my heart rate was and that it might have been caused by an infection that could even lead to a fatal end. I tried to explain the doctors I am experiencing a panic attack and that's why my heart is beating like that but they did not believe that was the reason. Not sure they were even aware what a panic attack is. Back then they even sent me to a hospital where I staid for 3 days and had my heart further checked. After all kinds of tests (a few blood tests, like 5-6 ECGs every day, constant measuring of blood preasure and body temperature, x-ray pictures of my heart and lungs, sonographer tests) they concluded that my heart and body in general are fine. They told me that all this is caused by stress and that I should do my best to moderate it and be calmer. And yet here I am constantly panicking that my heart will explode! I don't really know how to stop it and get rid of these thoughts. I get tired and dizzy and I start to think and truly believe it is from my heart, everything is so fucking real! So do you guys experience similar things? Could this dizzines and fatique all be caused by the panic disorder? I start panicking the moment I start to feel tired, and I feel tired because the constant panic! This is really starting to piss me off as I fear that a few steps outside would kill me! And 3 and a half months ago I spent a week on the seaside every day going to the beach, swimming in the water, climbing lots of stairs and walking on the sand etc, all this kinda requires at least moderate physical strenght. If my heart was ill I would not really be able to stay in the heat for hours drinking beer and running on the beach line! Or at least I think so. Yet the fear exists and gets even stronger...

Going out just became such a rare event for me now that when I have to, I often have nothing decent to wear .

What I mean by that is that I wear pyjamas 24/7 . My weight is always fluctuating ( mental health issues + chronic digestive issues + eating disorder ) so usually, I don't bother buying clothes or nice things because they won't fit me after a short while and I'm poor .

Thing is, when I have a medical appointment or something else that forces me to go out, I have to literally order stuff online in a hurry to be able to attend it and I fucking hate it ! It worsens my anxiety, I never know what size I am, I don't have a style anymore, everything is either ugly, not for me or too pricey and it really feels like a giant waste to spend up to 100 euros for just a few hours out .

Please, tell me I'm not alone !

I joined this page for a close family member who has suffered from agoraphobia for the last 4 years. You could probably argue it's been longer than that.

I'm his only person, and also, his safe person. He's been on non stimulant meds for ADHD that help regulate some of the physical symptoms of anxiety, but after failing over 10 drugs for mood regulation in the last 2-3 years, he took a break. He also has horrible social anxiety and C-PTSD.

I'm still in shock, but we were able to get him on a plane (First Class required) across the country thanks to a few miligrams of Ativan. He is now within 15 miles from me, instead of 2800 miles. We had to be careful that he was medicated enough, but not too much that he wasn't able to walk. He does have a few holes in his memory that day, but was worth it. I'm so incredibly proud of him.

This is huge. We had no idea how we were going to manage this. He only left the house when I was there for the last 8 years. Even getting the mail from the mailbox and putting out the trash were huge hurdles. He has been doing so amazingly well. It makes me tear up. This is a 40 something who has been isolated for almost 8 years, except for my visits. Was able to celebrate two holidays with him now.

So all this is to say, there is hope. There have been hiccups, but life is learned when mistakes are made, and in the hard bits. I appreciate him very much and know he does me. I wish you all peace and care on this really challenging navigation through life.

What’s the first thing you do when the DP/DR hits you? Do you just allow it and not fight it? Why am I so bad at accepting this stupid feeling? I don’t know why I can’t get my brain to realize I’m not going insane even though I feel like it.

hi i’m really desperate for advice from anyone who lives with housemates. my agoraphobia has been taking a rapid decline and things just keep getting harder and harder, i’ve never really spoken with my housemates and have actively avoided interactions with them as much as possible but living in a house with 5 other ppl (and their seemingly never ending guests) that’s kinda hard and it just makes things worse for me. i can barely afford rent as is so moving isn’t really an option (no parents to go to either) ive been trying to get help where i can but again im broke as shit and free services only go so far. i’m so tired of waiting for upwards of 3-4 hours to be able to eat cause 4 bedrooms open directly to the kitchen. idk what else to do

What artists, apps and podcasts do yall listen to? The artists I listen to are sonta, dj khaled, post malone, tyla, Shenseea, Roddy ricch, Lil uzi vert, Polo g, Offset, Tems, tiwa savage, Vedo, gloss up, sexyy red, lil tecca, lil mosey, brenson35th, cupcakke, Megan Theestallion, Nicki Minaj, tink, h.e.r, jay voss, brandy haze, Alina Baraz, no1noah, Kehlani, umi, yuna, tinashe, summer walker, Jhene Aiko, allyn, Ann Marie, Layton green, maeta, latto, yung bleu, city girls, cardi b, the weeknd, Stunna Gambino, trencch kidd, muni long, queen naija, syd, dej loaf, ashley dubose, sza, Kyle, drake, saucy santana, bia, chinese kitty, lakeyah, dreamdoll, khia, saweetie, tyga, Lightskinkeisha, trina, Rihanna, renni Rucci, dreezy, mila j, kali, chanel west coast, j.i the prince of ny, lady gaga, valerie couper, foster the people, justin Bieber, katy perry, griff, jessica mauboy, maroon 5, ed sheeran, taylor swift, chvrches, tones and i, the chainsmokers, dua lipa, sam smith, adele, annemarie, halsey, david guetta, Lizzo, lil nas x, life of dillon, Mackenzie porter, ava max. The podcasts I listen to are grownkid, the kid in the wheelchair, everything and anything and a bit gay podcast, your morning minute, affirmation pod, the hypnotist, dear nikky, the pleasure positive podcast, breakup boost, the AI breakdown, angela yees lip service, a safe place, dear schuyler, gay dating secrets, gay men going deeper, breathingspace, friendgroup, the casey crew, technically speaking and loitering. Check them out. Affirmation pod has an app called affirmation pod if you want the premium where you get episodes ad and announcement free, you get most of the affirmations with or without music, you can favorite episodes and all the episodes are in categories which is my favorite part. I listen to guided meditations on the breethe app, hypnosis with joseph clough app for self improvement, hypnosis and he’s a celebrity hypnotherapist and the white noise deep sleep sounds app if I want to listen to something relaxing. I like the iHeart radio app and the tunein app to. The breethe app has free content if you don’t do the premium and they have discounts all the time. Some of the categories for guided meditations are personal growth, health, sleep, morning, Christian, happiness, relaxation, mindfulness, anxiety and more and the app has a search bar. On the white noise app, you can mix the sounds and you can adjust the volume of each sound in the mix. The breethe app has lots of free stuff and they have meditations, sounds, hypnotherapy, therapy talks, masterclasses, wisdom bites, music, tapping, mindful movements and customer service is great. On the hypnosis app Joseph does a inspirational talk and then a hypnosis for whatever he talks about. The slumber app has more sleep stories and they have meditations, sleep music, asmr, soundscapes and more. You can adjust the person’s voice and while you’re listening to anything on slumber you can add music, rain, crickets, ocean, train, fire, snowstorm and more background affects and you can adjust and mix the sounds to. You can have the background affects play up to 10 hours after the track if you want

im so devastated i feel like i am doomed my whole life i was abused by my family friends everyone I have bpd agoraphobia social anxiety no life basically and I live with my parents who abused me mentally and physically i dont want to live if i will be stuck in this home and mental prison + I also have physical issues my whole life is in hospital and in this f room i hate

In episode 247 of The Anxious Truth podcast, Sally Winston, psychologist, makes a really interesting distinction. You can separate anxious feelings into 3 parts:

1. The fear (the actual panic)
2. The fear of the fear (being scared of panicking, typically felt during exposure)
3. The fear of the fear of the fear (feeling nervous/ anxious about doing something several days before)

Sally also makes a very important point, that in your recovery journey, Anticipatory Anxiety will be the LAST thing to leave. For anyone who’s done exposure therapy work, youll notice your panic attacks will drop in frequency (1) , then slowly the physical symptoms while out will drop in frequency (2), even though you might still be nervous before hand (3).

I felt like making this post because after a year and a half of diligent exposure therapy, working from random coffee shops all over the city, moving to Chicago, etc, I had to drive 4.5 hours home by myself this past weekend and was SO incredibly nervous about it the few weeks leading up to it. It was quite literally the only thing I could think about… but lo and behold, the drive was immensely easier than I thought it would ever be. There was no way I could have convinced myself of that without doing it, but then again, the anticipation is the last part to leave.

If you feel like you’re putting in work, but still dread certain exposures and feel like you’re stuck, just remember, that’s totally normal, you are improving, and allow yourself to notice that some things are just anticipatory anxiety.

I’ve had pretty acute agoraphobia for the last 5 years, and it has all but shattered my expectations for a normal life. I’m almost 21, and most of my “normie” friends unfortunately don’t understand how malignant and deeply impacted my nervous system is from years of conditioning. It would be great to talk to someone who also has agoraphobia. I wish there was some sort of agoraphobic convention, but then again how would we get there lol.

Feel free to message me if you also needa support buddy

Hi people, so i just want to ask a general question for the fellow agoraphobics.

I’ve noticed a lot of people say being distracted helps with feelings of anxiety. but sometimes you’re told to be present in the moment. now, i’m not sure if this is correct, but my guess is that it probably doesn’t matter all that much, or it isnt so important to be either/or, just that you are practicing exposure, in the case of agoraphobia.

but i’m curious which actually help y’all? because i’ve found trying to distract myself sometimes just makes the racing thoughts worse and then makes me more panicked. but i’ve felt at times a good distraction help me cope with a more minor exposure.

which would you say generally helps you out more? being distracted or being present?

So the winter holidays are coming and people are expected to attend family gatherings etc. I can think of at least two events where I will be expected (not counting the ones at my home). I am not having my best period right now and I am struggling to go out on a regular basis (often I find it hard to go even to the local store), not to speak to go a family meeting 30-40 minutes away from home, then sitting in a room with 10+ relatives, mostly drinking and eating for hours on a table. That would make me feel totally unsafe and out of control. I know it should not be such a bad thing, it should even be good to see and spend time with relatives on holidays, but it actually sounds like hell for me right now. Not like I hate them or something, I do love them, but staying far away from home for a few hours would really make me sick and couse me a panic attack (possible more than one). I know I should not be thinking about it, but I do. This is how my brain works. Actually I would accept to have a panic attack and feel bad for like 30-40 min (it usually starts to get better after, not every time though), that would not be the end of the world (even it sometimes feels like it). The worst part is thinking about the day of the gathering (or any other big event) itself a few days before, the anxiety and panic start a lot earlier than the event, that is draining and stressful. It drains me and hurts my body in advance, so if I go I feel like crap. Like I will collapse any moment. If I could go without thinking about it before, it would be a lot easier. But I (and others with this disorder) have the "abillity" to overthink and imagine the worst would happen. The worst in my case would be to get really sick and to feel like I would pass away any moment. I may find myself just trying to get into a different room (if possible) and just lay down. I know it because it has already happened a few times before. Usually I do attend all the family gatherings, especially on big holidays as I do respect them, but I have got a lot worse in the last few months I honestly I don't think I will be able to make it this year. I think I would just skip all of them if I could. I am just not sure what exactly to explain to people as they do not really understand this condition and I do not blame them. One of the events will actually be very important (the one at my aunt's vila) as my cousin is coming to town with his newborn (and first) child. He is very close to me and he will be expecting me to come and see the baby (will be 3 months old then). I really want to go and see the newest member of our family, I just don't know how I will. I have even purchased a present for the little girl already but I may find myself giving it to someone else (likely my father) to gift it from behalf of me. I know there are 20+ days and there is a small chance I would feel a little better and be able to go, but I highly doubt it. So I wanted to share how I feel about the coming holidays and mostly about the gatherings away from home. So how do you feel about all this guys, do you plan to push yourself and go see your families/friends or you plan to stay at home and refuse any invitations? If so, what exactly do you plan to explain to your relatives and friends? It is easy to explain to the understaning type, but a lot people do not understand this (including 99% of my relatives) at all and can even take it personal if you refuse and don't go. They would just tell you are lazy and disrespectful.

Has anyone else noticed momentarily mixing up reality and fiction? After playing a few hours of a video game, I'll dream about it and as I'm between waking/dreaming states my brain will momentarily apply the video game logic and user interface to the reality around me. I realize almost immediately it's not reality, buy it's disturbing that it happens at all. I was playing a puzzle game (The Witness) and it requires looking for dots and lines and I feel like I'm looking for dots and lines in real life, too. Most egregious, after watching an immersion movie or TV show and there's a character that reminds me of my partner, for a few minutes after watching it and before talking to my partner I'll get a sense of projection to expect that character's characteristics in my partner. It's never happened before until now (it's happened a few times now) that I'll go to talk to him and somehow expect him to be that character? It's embarrassing to say all this, I'm very anxious about the state of my mind and losing touch with reality (I experience derealization and depersonalization) and I have almost a phobia of developing psychosis. So, I wanted to see if this might be because my light agoraphobia has kept me in the house so long (I only go out once a week and only with my partner).

TLDR: Do you think there's a correlation between agoraphobia, dpdr, and momentarily mixing up fictional worlds/characters with reality?

So. I spend almost all my time trying to escape the reality that is my life. Games had completly stoped working in this regard even before the agoraphobia. Then I discovered the isometric crpg genre and have litterally played nothing but since. Bg3 changed the game. And now I'm just doing them all. But. My favorite part of these games is experiencing it through someone else's perspective as I've been through them many times. You can learn so much like when my body used the act of opening and closing a door to win a fight. Which I would have never even considered or when my other friend got through a dialog without being attacked when I hadn't in 4 play throughs. My friends are always to busy to commit to getting through a playthrough. And I met someone on the bg3 sub. But they up and vanished. Made me quite sad. So I figured who could be better then a fellow agoraphob. So I'm looking for a fellow player/players.

Disclaimer and I'm sure you get it. But in the beginning. I have to use text chat. Not mic. Until I warm up to someone it's just to much. But I did eventually break through with the person from the bg3 sub and did actually talk to her. So it can happen.

So. If anyone is interested in attempting it. Let me know.

Another disclaimer. I plan on modding my playthrough. Like my own mods. But am down to do a few mods and hope it's compatable( I can help if mods are unknown to you. and if not I can go back to playing vanilla. And this would be an honor mode run. Party wipe is game over.

So. Yeah, I feel embarrassed but. I want to experience the full game. With someone. Instead of always myself in a game with multi-player. Just a reminder of how lonely this shit is

Oh and I'm a 31 yr old male if that is a factor

OK thank you.. Me, myself, and my husky

Hello I’m here to ask for advice ! I want the good and positivity but I also wanna know anything I should know and or consider , because nothing good happens without some bad .

so I’ve dealing with DPDR (depersonalization/derealization) that started from a weed hangover over 7 months ago. It wasn’t triggered by a panic attack, it was more like a switch flipped, and I was stuck in this state. At first, it wasn’t too bad, but I tried smoking weed again 6 months ago, and since then, my DPDR has worsened, alongside panic attacks, severe agoraphobia, headaches and an increase in OCD thoughts, existential and what not. And I feel like my ocd and dpdr are in a feedback loop with each other. As as soon my dpdr starts to feel better my ocd shuts that down real quick.

I feel like my DPDR is staying the same because I keep reality checking, which has become a compulsion. I’ve tried medications like fluvoxamine made my anxiety worse, and Zoloft gave me so much energy that I crashed a couple days later. My doctor wasn’t sure if it was hypomania since I have BPD and can react strongly to emotions. I was just extremely happy that Zoloft didn’t seem to make things worse, and my doctor thought that was the likely explanation.

Now I’m considering trying Prozac again because it worked for my OCD in the past. However, I’m scared because, while it helped quiet my mind back then I had only one string of thought which felt so foreign, the idea of that feels unsettling now with the DPDR. I feel stuck—I can manage living with DPDR, but the panic attacks and anxiety are unbearable. I’m trying to figure out how to treat these symptoms without worsening the DPDR.

I’m also currently on 25mg of lamictal, which is giving me some mild side effects and my health anxiety is off the charts due to the risk that lamictal carries but I do feel like it kept me from freaking out and kinda made my world more real.

I haven’t left my apartment in a few weeks (3 to be exact.) I have a doctor’s appointment at 10am and spontaneously decided to go to a new local coffee shop. Well… it’s new for me but it’s been there for a few years now actually :/ I actually got a coffee! It was interesting to see everything and how people interact. I have no idea if everyone is so familiar with eachother because they’re regulars or know eachother or because they’re just naturally comfortable in public. I didn’t speak to anyone but either way, how exciting! I’m going home now but with a coffee I got from outside and had to speak to someone for! I hated it but not the whole thing! And it’s very nice outside.

I never dated in my whole life and we recently meet and I really love her. We talk all day long, but sometimes she stops talking and i try to understand what could be the problem and she's there's nothing wrong and I'm not an imbecile, i can tell something is wrong and I want to be here for her. I try everything and sometimes i feel like I'm not enough, but she's always saying she loves me and I do too so much.

I really don't know what to do or say to her, i feel like I'm not a good guy and she's it's not me but i'm what is it babe ? What's wrong ? And she doesn't say anything. I really love her and I see myself with that woman. We share so much in common that i just can't believe sometimes.

I really don't know what to do, what to say to her. We laugh, we talk all day and sometimes we watch a movie or something and we have so much fun, and like 1 hour ago everything was fine and boom, she doesn't talk anymore and I'm like did i do something wrong ? And she's no. But 1 hour before we were laughing and just like that she changes.

Does anyone could help me ? I tried talking to her and I don't want to lose her. I know she loves me but she doesn't think I love her and i really do. It's so complicated but i'm very patient and when she feels great i can feel her energy and wow, she's just perfect for me.

For anyone going through anything. If anyone wants more confidence, less irritability, more self love, more self care, more relaxation, more happiness, less depression, less stress, less anxiety, higher self esteem, if you want to sleep better and fall asleep faster and if you want more calm in your life even if you think you don’t need it trust me download the breethe app. They have guided meditations, hypnotherapy, sounds, sleep music, therapy talks, sleep stories and more. Another app you should get is hypnosis with Joseph clough. Affirmation pod, breathingspace and the hypnotist are good podcasts for positive self talk. Some of the categories for breethe for guided meditations are personal growth, relationships, performance, spiritual, sleep, anxiety, Christian, kids, health, relationships, happiness, morning, less guidance and more. Joseph has more free content than premium content. He’s a celebrity hypnotherapist. For the premium he has day and night sessions for every track in the hypnosis library, audio programs, 4 hour long sleep sessions to transform while you sleep, morning meditations, you can favorite episodes. Some of the hypnosis tracks in the hypnosis library are too highly sensitive and empathic, weight loss, wedding day nerves,football performance, shyness, stammering, dating confidence, darts performance, healthy skin, exam stress, gym motivation, healthy eating, addiction, pregnancy, during, post birth and preparing for labor, stage fright, speed reading, ptsd, anger management, anorexia, bulimia, agoraphobia, fear of heights, ocd, ADHD, migraine relaxation, running, getting over your ex, get over anyone, no more carbohydrates, people pleasing, pre surgery nerves/healing, internet addiction, gaming addiction, ibs, anxiety, fear of failure, driving phobia, phone addiction, depression, reduce high blood pressure, sugar addiction, emetophobia, dyslexia, taking responsibility and more. Breethe, the hypnosis app, affirmation pod, slumber and the white noise deep sleep sounds app take requests from listeners and they add new stuff all the time. On the white noise app you can mix the sounds and adjust the volume of each sound in the mix and listen to something else while the sounds are playing in the background. The affirmation pod podcast has an app called affirmation pod if you want the premium where you get episodes ad and announcement free, favorite episodes and all the episodes are in categories. The slumber app has more sleep stories if you want more sleep stories, asmr, sleep music, soundscapes, history and kids stories. You can adjust the persons voice on slumber and you can adjust and mix the background sounds you can add to each track. You can make the background sounds play up to 10 hours after the track. Some of the background sounds are music, rain, ocean, crickets, birds, binaural beats, fan, snowstorm and more. These apps and podcasts are amazing and I can’t say enough good things about them

The weekly radio that spins just for us

(Please use the streaming service of your choice to search the following song selections)

#Episode 14

Song/Track: “Hold Down”

Artist: The Kingstonians

“Hold Down” is just brilliant and cannot be outdone. But there’s so much great reggae/ska out there, we should enjoy more…

Our second song is “Man Pon Moon” by Derrick Morgan. (Lyrics are very hard to understand. My translation: “times so hard ‘pon earth, better me go try me luck ‘pon moon”)

And our bonus third song is, “Capo” by The Hippy Boys.

Well, I love this kind of Reggae or Ska that sounds so raw, gritty, metallic and earthy. I hope you dig it 🥁🥁

❤️Enjoy your Sunday and have a wonderful week❤️

Previous Episodes:

Ep 13. “I Live in a Suitcase” by Thomas Dolby

Ep 12. “I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)” by Stevie Wonder

Ep 11. “Impossible Soul” by Sufjan Stevens

Ep 10. “Hatasiz Kul Olmaz” by Orhan Gencebay

Ep 9. “Dark All Day (featuring Tim Capello and Indiana)” by GUNSHIP

Ep 8. “Away from the Mire” by Billy Strings, live performances recommended

Ep 7. “Heads Above (Maceo Plex remix)” by Maceo Plex/WhoMadeWho

Ep 6. “Love Song 28 (feat. Bobby)” by Jullian Gomes

Ep 5. “Feel Flows” by The Beach Boys

Ep 4. “New York Groove” by Ace Frehley

Ep 3. “Leavin’” by Shelby Lynne, live performances recommended

Ep 2. “Only When It’s Dark, featuring Gunship” by Miami Nights 1984

Ep 1. “These Days” by Jackson Browne

I have been reflecting in recent months that my phobia stems from having low self esteem or self confidence. I am unable to trust myself when I am alone outside or when I am alone even at home? How do you people improve this ? Anyone recovered with similar problems? Any tips on this would help. Thank you!

I feel like i have reached my limit, all areas of my life failed terribly, loneliness is crippling to the point i barely open my mouth during the day except when i force myself to eat anything, i have tried everything until now to help my situation and other things that were and are going badly.

I'm so done, I'm stuck in a position where i gave up on the idea of k**** myself but i don't see any path to start any sort of recovery, i feel stuck in a road with no exit and no matter how much i be positive and lie to myself saying it will get better, the truth is that my life has been going downhill into a scary disturbing place where i start developing weird mental response mechanisms at lot of times.

I find the lack of answers and the emptiness of this condition way too much after being out of society and a community for more than 6 years now, I'm losing my youth and i feel like there is nothing i can do in my power to change this, i see my appearance deteriorate everyday and life going by, people often give their generic opinion about what i should do and then just move on, it's a bitter state to live or rather be alive in. I feel like grasping for air everyday just to go by another day without completely losing my sanity.

I would like to know from my semi-functionnal agoraphobics, how have you tried to go on vacation? (Going to the airport, take the plane, going to an hotel 20 mins away from the airport?) I don’t want to abuse benzos and Quetiapine but I go with my man and he’s definitely not the best agoraphobic partner. He doesn’t understand what it is. I know that he will get totally wasted over there and I will have to make some friends (on the plane and at the hotel). I will have my phone, coloring books, relaxing apps, benzos of course,… I don’t drink nor do illegal drugs.

(I went on a vacay with my ex 9 years ago but forgot how I went through the whole week. I think I took a lot of clonazepam but I did kind of good. I remember that I really enjoyed the ocean! The airport was stressful on my way back home).

It’s very much of a big deal for me for me to go on vacation and I really want to feel ready. What’s your personal experience if you don’t mind sharing?

Thank you :)

I just want to ask if there is any other ways to treat agoraphobia then exposure therapy? I'm really trying with exposure therapy, it might be not consistent with it because of my job (shifts) but I'm really trying and every time I try to go out and go more far and calm my self down by understanding it's just a panic and nothing wrong with me, but really I'm not seeing any improvement yet, I have tried medications everything you can imagine, in fact I'm using three medications not Pregabalin, Pristiq and propranolol, I'm using benzo sometimes when I really need it and all of them have zero effect on me even the benzo but maybe the best one working at least that makes me to leave my house is propranolol so, is there any other treatments or medications or anything I should try to at least see improvement?

Note, I do use probiotics and vitamin D daily

I used to have them every night for at least two years. I've made a video about them and how I improved here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJJ2sGtsE3A

Please let me know what you think if you watch it!

I find it really difficult on a day off sometimes to motivate myself / work through the anxiety to get up and leave the house

But if I'm already out in the world for work, after it finishes I find it much easier to layer and add on going to get groceries on the way back, shop around etc.

Or only on my way to work will I take down the garbage badge

Its a very rigid thing and I wish I was able to utilise my free time better and not have to build around my work life to get basic tasks and going outside done

It will be two years soon that I have been dealing with agoraphobia. I have not been able to get back to "the real me" or even close during this time. I am 25 and a female.

It started when I had a severe panic attack out of the blue when driving alone. My heart rate skyrocketed to over 200bpm at the worst of it (my watch alerted me) but before I got that bad I pulled over and called everyone I knew for help and no one could help me or come get me. I could not calm myself down, kept trying to drive home and stopping when I could no longer hold the wheel -- I was literally laying down in stranger's driveways and acting...insane. I had never been like that in my life, I had no idea what was happening to me. I was so out of it, so out of control, not only could I not think but I was extremely irrational and stuck in a panic begging for help. If I could have been more "in control" mentally, I would have called an ambulance. I was in no shape to drive. I eventually made it home but I lost who I was during the drive back and had no idea it would mess me up this bad.

Seen numerous psychiatrists and therapists. None of them were helpful. I was and still get very bad, and I feel like none of these professionals believed the severity. Could not sit in a car or go down my road for the longest time. I started driving when I could -- always with someone in the passenger seat, a "safe person", and to this day I have not made it far. Driving around my town, basically. I also struggle with being alone, even in my own home, being alone terrifies me. I can be fine but the moment I am alone I start to have panic attacks. I work on this aspect by obviously being alone and not asking anyone to stay with me even when I'm suffering. It just...never seems to get better?

This is not who I am. I'm afraid all the time. I'm worried all the time. I keep feeling like I'm not real and things around me are not real -- this has been really getting to me, especially when driving everything seems so abnormal I immediately panic. I'm stuck in my house most of the time. I do want to go out, I do want to live my life again. I am beyond miserable I think this is Hell sometimes. I try leaving the house almost everyday, and am successful the majority of the time. It just feels excruciating. No one in my life understands what I'm going through.

I'm not usually this pessimistic. I'm just losing hope. I remind myself that I have been hitting my goals, I have been fighting this, I have been pushing my limits and trying to get my life back. I have been doing exposure therapy for over a year and a half.

When you guys are driving, do you ever feel like you'll never make it home? Even when I'm ten minutes away, it feels like I'm hours away. My mind thinks I'll never make it back. I suffer with panic and all the physical symptoms of it when I do drive. It feels like one long heart attack. Every time I get home, I tell myself "See? We made it home. We always come back here."...but nothing stops that suffocating, urgent need to go home -- even though I hate it here.

My panic is nonstop. Any drugs I have been prescribed...none of them really helped? I know it has to be me to stop this...I just can't seem to make progress. I have really bad days and I have days that are manageable. I'm beginning to get depressed, feeling like I'm wasting my life and also feeling like I'm going crazy. I feel like I lost who I was. That I'm a new person and I hate her. I've never been this weak, unreasonable, scared...dependent on others. I despise this.

None of the therapists I have had understand it. Currently, I go to a place close to my home and even though my therapist does not help, I thought at least I am getting out and in a relatively "safe" environment. My therapist talks a lot about themself, their childhood, their own anxiety that...has no resemblance to my own. They tell me almost too much about themselves, without me even asking? They talk a lot about their insanely traumatic childhood and it's...not helpful and odd? I go there for help, I go there to try and make a plan for recovery or to be taught how to manage this, how to understand what is happening to me...I learned more from the internet. I will be finding another therapist but I'm discouraged based on what I have dealt with so far.

I used to travel, to see my friends and family, went out and had fun -- enjoyed and lived life without being scared of my own shadow and drowning in anxiety. I haven't felt like myself in a very, very long time.

I apologize for the rant. I was hoping to see if anyone could offer advice on what I should focus on or any helpful comments.

Hi all, this week I had a 4.5 hour solo drive back home for Thanksgiving, which is my longest drive yet, and tbh it went super well! However, I was expecting to feel super good about it and enjoy this week with my family before going back to Chicago, but for some reason, I’ve just felt super sick all week. I’ve had a thick headache for the last 4 days, nausea, body aches, extreme fatigue, etc. But I don’t have any cough / congestion, and a thermometer reading last night showed a regular temperature. I even ran a 5k Thanksgiving morning (granted taking an Advil before hand for my headache), and ran a 9.5 minute pace without stopping, which I was surprised at because the last month of trying to train, I just felt weak and sick during all of my runs. I’m just confused, because previously after doing a big exposure like the drive I did, I feel super relaxed and proud of myself, I’m able to chill and feel good, but this week it’s just been discomfort everyday. To be honest, I kinda felt this way the week before my initial drive too, crossing my fingers hoping my ill symptoms would go away and I’d feel normal for the exposure, which they actually did the day before the drive, but yeah idk. Anyone else felt something similar?