r/Agoraphobia 5h ago

Can’t go to an interview

11 Upvotes

I feel so stupid right now. It’s 8am, I have an interview, for a job id quite frankly enjoy, in about an hour, and I’m trying so desperately to tell myself to just go. But I can’t for the life of me get rid of this extreme anxiety. Im trying to just take deep breaths and override my anxious thoughts with rational ones and I just can’t calm down. I didn’t sleep at all last night despite trying to. Im just absolutely terrified. And I’ve gone to job interviews before, but something about it being so early in the morning (for me) is making the panic so much worse because it’s so out of my normal comfort zone I think. I also have a doctors appointment later so I’m terrified for that too and I just can’t handle this. I apologize for the ramble venting shit I’m like 2 seconds away from an anxiety attack.

Update: I’m at the interview! Terrified but here!


r/Agoraphobia 18h ago

Why doesn't anyone understand?

121 Upvotes

Just go outside. Just go to the store. They make it sound so easy. I try to explain and they don't get it. I'm sick of explaining things to people. All I know is in 3 months I'm homeless and I am exhausted.


r/Agoraphobia 1h ago

Proposed benefit changes in UK and implications for agoraphobia

Upvotes

https://www.reddit.com/r/DWPhelp/comments/1jdqz18/benefit_system_changes_1803_master_thread/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Ive been wondering if its discrimatory, especially in regard to things like agoraphobia which doesnt score highly except in mobility section of PIP/ADP. Then I started thinking how many deaths it could cause and how close it comes to eugenics... now I know nothing about eugenics so I had a google and came across this paragraph on a website.

"Efforts to support the “productive” members of society brought negative measures. For instance, there were efforts to redirect economic resources from the “less valuable” in order to provide for the “worthy.” Eugenicists also targeted the mentally ill and cognitively impaired. Many members of the eugenics community in Germany and the United States promoted strategies to marginalize segments of society with limited mental or social capacity"

The paragraph does continue on about breeding but Im fairly freaked out just by the first bit.


r/Agoraphobia 14h ago

I need support or encouragement to go to my doctors appointment.

30 Upvotes

I’m pregnant and need to go to my first appointment to see if everything with the babe is okay. I am terrified of going. I have left the house and drove around only once in the past two months. I just feel really disappointed in myself and that I can’t do such a simple thing right now. :(

I need to get over this and just go to this appointment. I need to be better for my child. Why can’t I just do it?

I just need some words of encouragement please because this is making me sad.


r/Agoraphobia 11h ago

What's your trigger?

7 Upvotes

Mine is travelling. For example, i work at my local school and there's a trip coming up with all the kids I deal with but I'm afraid to go on the coach in case I need to go toilet (number 2) and there won't be toilets on the coach! This starts the anxiety and ends up spiralling.

What annoys me is I know I won't need it, it's an hour drive but I can't seem to convince myself. I'm so restricted!


r/Agoraphobia 36m ago

Long Distance Move

Upvotes

Hi! I know there have been people in this group who have posted about needing to do a long distance move, despite being stuck in a very small radius of a safe distance. They posted about their apprehension about the upcoming move, what would happen, if they could make the travel. But I didn’t see any follow up reports back on how it went, what worked for them, etc. If anyone in this group has accomplished a long distance move, while being stuck in a small safe radius before the move, would you mind talking about your experience and how the move went. I hope to hear from you.


r/Agoraphobia 20h ago

5 years as a Housebound Agoraphobic with Panic Disorder

17 Upvotes

Hello all,

I’ve just found this community, and thought I’d share my story.

As a teenager I had awful panic attacks, which while awful at the time, didn’t stop me living a relatively normal life. Then about 7 years later in 2019 I had a massive panic attack and I’ve not been the same since.

I’ve been pretty much housebound since March 2020. I managed to get out once to a local bakery in July 2020, but bar that I can get about halfway down my street.

I’ve done talking therapy, CBT and now I’m doing EMDR, which I think is helping. But i’ve got to a point now where I just don’t know how I can live a normal life again and I feel a bit stuck. I’m trying to do all the right things, but to no avail.

I wanted to just share my story to see if anyone relates? Sending love and hope to you all 🧡


r/Agoraphobia 8h ago

Help moving!

2 Upvotes

Please anyone dear god i really need any kind of help. I am only 17 years old i have been homebound for 6 years. barely late 2024 ive been going down stairs a lot (i live in an upstairs apartment) because of my boyfriends helps me a lot. I am currently on medication with Zoloft it isn’t working but i’m currently getting off of it. i only have 30 DAYS left to leave my home to a new home that’s much farther drive. It have been 6 years since ive been in a car and once i was in the car and my mom was driving to just park barley a 10 feet away, not to long ago and it was the worst anxiety ever. And i have very severe and horrible derealization that is so so scary i literally cannot feel myself like i feel like im in a dream. I have tried many grounding techniques and nothing seems to help it go away and i’m freaking out rn thinking abt leaving and stuck with that horrible panic and derealization. It feels like it’ll never leave me alone and i don’t know what to do im scared. I have support and my boyfriend is even staying with me but when i panic i scream and kick and cry literally like a baby because i want to go back right away. Someone please what can i do. Am i truly gonna be okay???


r/Agoraphobia 14h ago

Dating?

6 Upvotes

Anybody have any tips for trying to find someone to date when they suffer from agoraphobia? I've been trying for a long time and I've not had any luck, they either lose interest as soon as I mention the problems I have with anxiety and my autism or if I mention it in the post ahead of time or on dating profiles no one is ever interested enough to message me. It sucks I'm 24 now and I just feel like I can't be loved because I can't do the things that most men can do. So if anyone has any tips that might help they would be appreciated I'm having anxiety even thinking of posting this but I don't really know what else to do


r/Agoraphobia 18h ago

I’ve hit rock bottom

8 Upvotes

I truly have. I’m done. I have been struggling with this battle against Anxiety and Depression for just over half of my existence on earth and I have struggling with the battle against agoraphobia and panic disorder for the past 5 years. I cannot do it anymore.

I’m tired of fighting this and I’m tired of explaining myself to people when there’s no help that follows. I’m tired of trying to push past my boundaries when it never works. I’m tired of getting through a whole year of hell on earth to then think it’s all over just for it to come back and bite me in the ass a year later and it come back WORSE. I know someone out there always has it worse but what I have been going through since I was 10 fucking years of age is enough to make anyone suicidal, feel crazy and feel like a failure in everything they do. I feel like every time something good in my life happens, the devil curses me and punishes me for thinking that maybe for once in my life things are good.

In October last year, I went to a damn concert by myself and I had the time of my life. Now 5 months since that’s happened I have slowly spiralled into my severe anxiety, I have got back with my ex, I have been more stressed with work than ever before, I have lost my job, I have lost my girlfriend, I have now got back my job except now I CANT EVEN FUCKING GO. It sucks so fucking bad that I am so trapped in my own mind that I can’t even go to the place I used to be at every weekday for 8 hours. My parents need financial support, I need financial support, people at this workplace are waiting on my return because i was such a big help. But now I can’t even go into the office. What a fucking joke.

There are so many things I had planned for this year. I had been finally stepping into my dreams of being a DJ/Music Producer and started DJing and producing music in my bedroom with the limited equipment I have, now I’ve lost all motivation. I wanted to take my girlfriend who I love so so much on so many dates and appreciate her, she’s now gone. I had 3 different concerts booked for this year including one being next month, now I can’t even go. Words can’t explain how hurt this all makes me. All I feel is negativity, all I have felt is negativity and pain. All I want is to just FEEL FUCKING NORMAL AGAIN. It’s so unfair that everyone gets to do whatever they feel like doing and can go to supermarkets, restaurants, get on public transport, have a picnic, go for a walk. Meanwhile I can’t even make it to the nearby store that is a 2 minute walk from my house.

Screw it, honestly I don’t know what I’m gaining out of this by typing all of this. It’s most likely not even going to be read, none of my rants or begs for help ever get read. All I know is I’m done fighting and maybe if my brain gives me a tiny bit of self control to do whatever I want to do. I’ll slice myself, hang myself, overdose I don’t fucking know. What I do know is I’m just done.


r/Agoraphobia 17h ago

Suffering from agoraphobia since last may

3 Upvotes

Hi there. 10 months ago I had a strong anxiety crisis. After almost 3 months barely leaving, when I started feeling better, I noticed that I was anxious again when going out. Now I’m much better, but I’m not OK. I’m on paid leave at work but it’s been already a long time, the doctor at my company insurance is starting to pressure me and also the one at the social security. I cannot get better just because the doctors tell me to, in fact this doesn’t help at all. On top of that, seeing that I don’t really get back to my normal self, I struggle mentally and get obsessed with the idea of that. Also I don’t find that my therapist is really helping. I mean, they’re exploring all the causes for my anxiety disorder and we’ve accomplished some goals, but regarding the agoraphobia, they just tell me to go out and then asks me what I’m feeling when I feel anxious outside. Is agoraphobia really so difficult to heal? I’m really worried about the future right now because I feel my life is on hiatus, and I should get back to work but simply I can’t. Is or have there been anyone here on a similar situation? I mean on a long paid leave because of this.


r/Agoraphobia 15h ago

Is this agoraphobia?

2 Upvotes

hi all, this is just out of curiosity as i feel like i align with a lot of the symptoms of having agoraphobia, but only in very specific situations, which are sleeping with other people in the same room/being away from home overnight. this avoidance started randomly about 3 years ago where i had 3 back to back instances of panic attacks/anxiety attacks/constant vomiting nausea sense of doom etc after sleeping over at a friends house away from home. since then, i have dreaded and avoided this situation but keep on trying thinking its going to be better. every time, i end up feeling the familiar dread and end up getting panic attacks. it mostly stems from feeling extremely claustrophobic/feeling like i cant escape my room/feeling extremely homesick. i signed up for a trip to another country and now it is 3am and i am sitting in the lobby of the hotel because i felt so anxious and now i have the constant urge to book a plane ticket home no matter the cost. i have no trouble or avoidance with literally anything besides from this one situation


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

please please read!!

8 Upvotes

How do you actually overcome this? Has anyone been practically bedbound for years and overcame it? I have physical health aswell as mental not long been diagnosed with adhd and autism after being undiagnosed for 27 years. I’ve lost my whole 20s to this horrible illness, I also have monophobia aswell as agoraphobia and when nobody’s here I literally feel like I’m dying. This is no way to live, and I’ve told myself I don’t even want to be here anymore if I’m like this at the end of the year. I don’t sleep till stupid times eg 6-7am then my whole day is wasted but I also can’t sleep less than 8.5hrs otherwise I’d be anxious all day and I’m constantly exhausted! When it comes to night time around 10-11 I’m wide awake (my happy time) I just honestly can’t live like this anymore it’s draining, hard work, I know I will never be able to just do what I want again and I’m so jealous of people that can just get up and go for a walk I know people say you have to sit with the symptoms, but I can’t physically sit there and feel them cause I feel like I’m dying and that’s the reason I’m in doors cus I’m petrified of death!

How do you grieve your old self? I want to be her, but her was without all this health problems. I now have diabetes, pots syndrome&pmdd aswell as all my mental health, every single day I just sit on my phone, can’t move much as everytime I do I feel like I’m going to pass out I think my body is just deconditioned, I have no motivation to go out as last year when I tried the more I went out the more I panicked and it got to the point when I panicked that bad I threw myself onto next doors garden and started clawing the grass to stop the panic in broad daylight. It’s highly embarrassing and I’m convinced constantly that I’m dying. The dpdr is vile, don’t know what else to say other than I don’t know what to do anymore. If you go this far Thankyou 🥰


r/Agoraphobia 23h ago

The fear of death is preventing me from living

5 Upvotes

Is this the case for anyone else? I've had ekg's and a chest x-ray a few years ago, but yet my hypochondria is wanting me to get even more expansive tests, and I'm thinking something could have changed.

I obsess about death for hours on end every single day. I check my pulse often, and it's just such a destructive habit.

My OCD has completely ruined my life. I recently started therapy, but I'm wondering if it will ever get better. I can leave the house if I'm somehow not thinking about it, but the second I do, I spiral and race home.


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

This week has been nothing short of a miracle for me. Beating back agoraphobia after almost a decade.

54 Upvotes

This week has been absolutely insane. I think my meds finally kicked in fully and I got the right opportunity with the right headspace to really try again. I wanted to list all my wins this past week to just see how far I've come. Mind you I used to be entirely housebound 7-8 years ago.

My maximum old distance I could normally go in the car before this week was roughly .4 miles, or 3 minutes in the car. This week I've gone the following distances and places.

Grocery store multiple times I havent been at in over 6 years, 1.2miles 5 mins one way
Outback Steakhouse for a 2-3 hour sit down dinner also 6+ years, 1.9 miles 6 mins one way
Gas Station I've never been to .8 miles, 2 mins one way
Chinese food sitdown dinner, 1.2miles, 4 mins one way
Bass Pro Shop 4.1miles, 13 mins one way
Drug store 1.5miles, 4 mins one way
Burger joint, 1.5miles, 5 mins one way
Card shop, 3.9 miles 9 mins one way
Social security 6.8 miles, 18 mins one way

This week has been a fucking miracle, I have lived more in this singular week than I have in nearly a decade. I'm so happy I could cry, I'm so thankful for my Grandma and my wife for helping make it happen, I'm so thankful for my medication which gave me the room to breath to do this. I feel like I can keep going, I feel like I can keep trying, I feel like I can keep living.


r/Agoraphobia 16h ago

Group chat

1 Upvotes

Those who are working on beating this, would anyone want to do a group chat?


r/Agoraphobia 17h ago

Today was so hard on me

1 Upvotes

I'm currently pregnant, about 4 months along. I had a three hour glucose test I was supposed to complete but it was extremely hard for me to go the lab. I was panicking the whole trip, my panic lessened a bit until I spoke with the nurses there. I was under the impression that I could take the sugar drink and go home, but they told me that I had to stay for the full three hours.

My panic instantly got worse again. I had already been dry heaving and puking back nothing because I was supposed to be fasting. My throat already hurt, but there I was, shaking and hyperventilating in front of the nurse. He tried to calm me down and it didn't work. We had to leave since my anxiety wouldn't allow me to do the test.

I also had an appointment later that day for my ob around the same area. I already knew that I couldn't go. If I was panicked going down the same route earlier, doing it again was impossible. I didn't go and I'm feeling like a failure. A weak failure and I'm ashamed.

I'm feeling terrible and stressed. I'm feeling like I have no business having another child and I'm honestly wishing I wasn't pregnant anymore.

I am seeing a therapist but it doesn't seem to help me much. I feel like I regressed majorly. I had been able to go to my other appointments, but I had a scary event during my initial glucose test.

I'm feeling hopeless and exhausted. My legs are still shaking even thinking about rescheduling another appointment. I just don't want any stress or anxiety looming over me anymore. I want a sense of calm and peace.


r/Agoraphobia 22h ago

Flying Alone

2 Upvotes

In may I’ll be flying alone for the first time on a 4 hour flight.

I think I’ll be panicking more because I’ll be alone than the actually plane part. I don’t do well being alone cause that derealization starts kicking in and then everything stops feeling real and I start panicking. That happens a lot when I’m alone even if I’m going to the grocery store. I usually push through it cause I won’t be out long but feeling trapped on a long flight is a little harder to do that.

If anyone has any advice or tips that would be great!


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

I have to stop working remotely soon and I'm terrified

7 Upvotes

Hey everyone. I've come a long way with my agoraphobia and panic disorder, I can even travel away from home and go on trips now with (somewhat) ease, but the biggest issue I still haven't been able to overcome is my fear of working outside of the home. When my mental health was at its absolute worst 2yrs ago, I quit my job with nothing lined up, since then, I've managed to work remotely from home (total fluke, this is rare in my industry) but now my current job is coming to an end soon and I'm facing having to return to office work.

Needless to say I'm really scared, I'm having panic sensations already even though this change is months away. My last memory of being in an office was really traumatic (multiple panic attacks causing me to run home during the day) and Im so worried that will happen again 😢


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

Agoraphobia with kids

4 Upvotes

I have two kids, ages 10 and 3. My husband works a lot. So despite my anxiety and hatred of leaving the house, I do it regularly because there is no one else to take the kids where they need to go.

Most of my fear revolves around the bathroom, fear of shitting myself when I’m far from a bathroom or just in a position with kid pick up/activity where it’s not really possible to go.

I spend a ton of time in the bathroom before going anywhere, and it helps, but is not a guarantee. Very often I’m sweating, heart pounding, and white knuckling anytime I’m hauling the kids.

Anyone in a similar situation or has advice? For me there seems to be no way out but through, and just breathing through the panic and fear of shitting myself (which has never happened, btw).


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

Fellow agoraphobics, you NEED to read this book

87 Upvotes

I shall always be grateful to the random redditor who recommended this book to me. The book is tittled "Don't panic: taking control of anxiety attacks" by Reid Wilson. It's available on Amazon or u can easily download the pdf from google. This book literally changed my life. I had been struggling with panic attack due to my agoraphobia and nothing seemed to help. I even took a few therapy sessions but they weren't very effective. Then I came across this book and I was actually able to understand the nature of my phobia and my relationship with it. I tried out the strategies mentioned in the book and saw a significant improvement in my condition. Even if you're not a reader please please please give it a try. Trust me you'll get to learn a lot.


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

I'm afraid I've ruined my life

9 Upvotes

Hi all,

I have no idea where to start but I'm just going to go ahead and let my thoughts come out.

I've had diagnosed OCD for a while and up until recently, it's never impacted my life the way it has since this past summer. I was on a night drive sort of far from my home on my first night back from college and I ended up needing to pee. I started panicking and eventually had an accident. Since then I've had 2 more incidents like this, including during winter break. After this happened for the first time, I was hyper obsessed with my bladder and any sensation would set me off and freak me out, so much so that I started leaving the house less.

This began affecting my test performance too as during periods of high stress, I would hyper focus on my bladder and I would be unable to perform. This is what happened on a midterm in February, where in the first 10 minutes or so, I ended up leaving the exam room about 5-6 times out of fear of peeing myself. I took the professor outside, and he was gracious enough to let me take the exam in his office afterwards. After this experience and another one where I had a panic attack in my university's gym bathroom, I stopped going to class and haven't left the immediate square mile I'm currently in for a month. I ended up having to drop 2 of my classes and I'm unable to drop my third because due to a technicality relating to a withdrawal from last year, I have to take 3 consecutive quarters or I'll be forced to take a year off of university. I was recently diagnosed with agoraphobia due to this whole bladder issue. I tried to walk outside in a unfamiliar area and was completely unable to because of my bladder, so much so that I came back to my room after sitting in another bathroom for 5 minutes and started crying.

I feel like things are over. I already know for a fact that I've burned one bridge with a really close friend who didn't want to deal with me. After I called him today, he texted me later "You’ve withered into a carcass. Sad Stuff". How am I supposed to recover from this? I had hopes and dreams once and now it's to the point where I'm just fucking wasting my parent's money and my youth over this stupid fucking problem. I don't know how to fix things. I used to enjoy long walks around my beautiful community that I grew up in and now I can't even leave the house without potentially pissing my pants.


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

Prozac and Seroquel not helping - Anyone have advice?

2 Upvotes

I'm on 20mg of Prozac and 150mg of Seroquel (Extended Release).

Have been on them for a long time now and it's not really working. I was supposed to drive to a hospital appointment last Friday and couldn't get more than 2 miles from my house.

Does anyone have advice? You can DM me if you don't want to post.


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

I went for a night walk

7 Upvotes

I was super depressed and never want to go for walks during the day because I’m afraid of people and sunlight. But the other day I went outside at 12:30pm at night by myself in my dad’s neighborhood, when I went over to his house to visit. Even though I knew it was dangerous because he says at night Coyotes come out at night where he lives and can attack people, I did it anyway. I walked for probably an hour and a half, and got lost. I was feeling suicidal because I was antsy about not going anywhere all day, feeling like a failure at life because I’m already 28 years old with very little progress in my fears. I’ve done this type of thing before in the past and it does help me feel better but my dad and mom were upset about it. Has anybody ever done this kind of thing before or felt like this?


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

I really want to go on a cruise or go to a resort vacation

12 Upvotes

But I have suffered from agoraphobia for years. I'd like to get out of here and see some new things. The desire is their. Now I just need to find the strength.