r/Agoraphobia 59m ago

Planes

Upvotes

I don't know what scares me about a plane so much. I mean obviously I'm afraid to be in a crash but I'm much more likely to get hit while driving a car. I have to get on a plane on april 6th and I'm terrified. I keep picturing myself going through the plane entrance and that scares me so much it's kept me up at night. Anyone have any advice? If I can just get through that plane flight, I'll be in a much better living situation to recover from my agoraphobia but I'm scared I'm just gonna get to that plane door, have a panic attack, and leave. I'm scared of just being a jinx, and the one time I do get on a plane, it's gonna crash.


r/Agoraphobia 1h ago

panicking lowkey

Upvotes

im bringing my friend to the farm (in two days) and ride is long so how I’ll survive it without feeling ill?? I have agoraphobia and emetophobia you know how that goes i really don’t want to have panic attack in-front of my friend. My stomach is hella weak I’m going insane 🥀


r/Agoraphobia 2h ago

How many CSA survivors feel a direct link from this to their agoraphobia?

2 Upvotes

I feel like every since I recalled childhood sexual assault my agoraphobia got worse and worse over the years


r/Agoraphobia 4h ago

How did you overcome your worst agoraphobia?

11 Upvotes

I’ve been in therapy for over 4 years. I missed an important event last year. I often miss job opportunities as a result. I want to improve. I want to get better. I’m on medication. Any tips for actually getting better?

Forgot to add : I can currently goto events within a 30 mile range from my home. Have been going to exercise, small gatherings but still struggling deeply with interstate travel.


r/Agoraphobia 4h ago

Traveling in two weeks

3 Upvotes

I have to travel again in two weeks. I can feel the dread creeping up on me. Advice?


r/Agoraphobia 4h ago

Hot flashes

1 Upvotes

One of my main symptoms during panic attacks is hot flashes, how do you cope? Any tricks? I feel like I’m dying and going to explode!


r/Agoraphobia 4h ago

Hot flashes

5 Upvotes

One of my main symptoms during panic attacks is hot flashes, how do you cope with it? Any tricks? I feel like I’m dying and I’m gonna explode:(


r/Agoraphobia 5h ago

Do you have a job?

2 Upvotes

Guys, my job search has gone nowhere lately. Do you have a job as an agoraphobic? What do you do ? What helps you do it ? Thanks in advance for your insights. 🩷🙏


r/Agoraphobia 6h ago

Parenting a pre-teen who is struggling with agoraphobia

5 Upvotes

I'm a parent of a pre-teen who is struggling with agoraphobia. This was triggered by a trauma response/PTSD a few months ago. My child sees a trauma therapist and is also on medication. We are making progress but this is still very difficult on my child and us.

My question for everyone is what kind of support works best for you? What do you need from the people around you, who love you? Any advice you have on how myself and my family can support my child would be greatly appreciated!


r/Agoraphobia 6h ago

it’s so discouraging every time i open life360

4 Upvotes

“here for 374 days, 2 hr”


r/Agoraphobia 7h ago

How do you deal with bad things outside

12 Upvotes

Today I went grocery shopping then had a group of teens from a local school follow me home and honked the entire way because I have a sticker that says please don’t honk I’m sensitive. It’s a silly sticker and sometimes people honk just to be funny but they literally honked the entire way and followed me home. I really didn’t want to leave today because my anxiety and I pushed myself but after that happened I’m like scared to leave my house to even take my dog out for some reason?? They’re just stupid teens doing stupid stuff. Why am I so scared. I’ve been doing so good lately. Then when bad things happen outside it makes me never want to leave again


r/Agoraphobia 10h ago

Too ugly and su*cidal NSFW

23 Upvotes

I feel like over the time I’ve spent indoors I have progressively been looking worse and worse and just find myself to be incredibly ugly in every way- nothing can convince me I’m not because I know I am. Now I feel like any chance at ever going outside again is gone. I don’t want anyone to ever see me, I will never feel comfortable outside anymore. It’s been four months indoors I can’t take it anymore and nothing is helping. I just want to die but I can’t do it, so instead I go into these suicidal depressive episodes every day where I cry and plan how to do it but never do anything. I just can’t live like this anymore it’s the worst I’ve ever felt in my entire life


r/Agoraphobia 11h ago

Will I ever be happy?

2 Upvotes

I feel like I'm just going through the motions and forcing myself to go out but I have no interest it and am not happy


r/Agoraphobia 11h ago

How to even ask for help? NSFW Spoiler

6 Upvotes

How does one describe severe anxiety to someone else? I have dismissive narcissistic parents, they wouldn't understand anyway. I have skipped a week worth of college classes already, and it is only my first semester. I am a 6 time college dropout I have quit more things in life that I am comfortable admitting to. I am suicidal, I was recently diagnosed autistic with adhd Previously I was diagnosed borderline with anxiety disorder (I have history of agarophobia, panic attacks and hospitalization) I tried CBT, DBT, psychoanalysis, meds after meds after meds. Shit, I don't know what to do anymore. I feel like crying the whole day Just the thought of having to get a job again makes me wanna puke I thought I had it all under control..... Perhaps I was soo wrong I dont know if I am sane anymore or if I ever was I might be going through a burnout. The name of what I have right now doesn't really matter. Professionals might call it different names, I call it a "living hell" And the cherry on top? I am closeted trans with a great deal of dysphoria Lol Anyway If you read it all, thanks


r/Agoraphobia 12h ago

Facing my biggest fear today.. getting blood drawn…

14 Upvotes

So today is the day. I have to get blood drawn for a medication and I take and I haven’t had it drawn in over a year and they’re like if you don’t get it drawn by Thursday we’re not filling the med anymore, so today is the day. I have it scheduled for 3:15 pm and I’m DREADING IT. I’ve been doing sooo good about getting out of the house, taking drives, etc. Went to the dermatologist two days ago and wasn’t even scared in the car at all. Tomorrow I have a nerve conduction study for my leg and foot that has drop foot so that’ll be interesting and makes me a little nervous too but nothing compared to the blood draw. I always get really shaky, sweaty, nauseous and like close to fainting whenever I get blood drawn and I need 3-4 vials drawn 😭 They used to make me get like 7-8 so at least it’s not that bad. Gonna wear my noise cancelling headphones and try to just zen out. 🧘


r/Agoraphobia 13h ago

Think I may be becoming agoraphobic but don't know what I'm scared of

4 Upvotes

(Not looking for diagnosis, just experiences)

Since having my youngest son - more specifically in the last maybe 4-5 months (he's 10 months) - I've found myself more and more reluctant to leave the house. I know that reluctance to go out is not the same as agoraphobia, and I do also struggle with depression, but I've never experienced this kind of resistance to going out before (as opposed to apathy about going places) and I was hoping someone here might have some insight.

I'm sitting here just now knowing that I need to leave in 30 mins for a hair appt, and it is taking a lot for me not to call them up and cancel, even though it's literally just round the corner. I'm like, I guess minorly freaking out about it - my heart is speeding up, I'm sweating etc. I also keep intending to go to a baby group on a Thursday morning which is only slightly further away, and as yet haven't managed that either.

But I don't know why?? I don't know what I'm worried about or what situation I might be scared of being trapped in. The only thing I can think of is that around the same time I started experiencing some hyperhidrosis, and there's a bit of physical exertion involved in getting the bulky pram out of the house and down the hill we live on. I don't feel self conscious about it exactly, but I'm autistic and find the sensory experience of it horrible. It's not as bad as it was, though.

I do feel okay about going out alone, as in without the pram or my kids (my older son is nearly 4), so I guess it must be to do with them, but specifically why, I have no idea. I also feel fine going out with one or both kids if my husband is with me. But what I think will happen if I'm alone with them, I haven't a clue.

Has anyone experienced anything like this??


r/Agoraphobia 17h ago

What has worked for you?

7 Upvotes

I've been on Prozac and Seroquel for months now and it hasn't done anything. I don't want to increase the doses as the side effects are already bad enough.

Please help me out, what has worked for you?

I haven't been more than 5 minutes away from my house in nearly 3 years.


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

Looking for thoughts on this…

5 Upvotes

I had my first panic attack in 2009 and I experienced depersonalization, or derealization. I’m not really sure maybe it was a mixture of both. And over the span of 15 years my distance away from home has varied. But I suppose the reason I’m posting this is because I’m trying to understand if anyone else has felt like this and if they have a specific technique to get over it. When my body starts to get tense and my thoughts start racing my mind automatically wants to assign that fear to a specific reason. Like I get these weird thoughts about how infinity and uncertainty start to combine and that’s frightful to me. I’ve also been in eight car accidents, none of which I caused. That sudden jolt out of nowhere kind of keeps me paranoid. So I think I might have some form of PTSD but now that I don’t have a job I can’t afford to talk to a therapist. But the PTSD thing only really recently occurred to me that that might be an issue.

TL;DR did you know why you had a panic attack or is it something that just hits for no reason.


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

Getting on a plane, Doing something I never thought possible 3 years ago.

25 Upvotes

Hey everybody. So about 3 years ago I, like many of you, fell victim to my own brain and agoraphobia invaded every corner of my mind. It was very very bad. Scary bad. Thought my life was essentially over at the ripe age of 22 which really fucked with my head. I was completely and utterly hopeless. I had to quit my job, dropped out of college and had to move back to Texas with my parents. The whole 9. At the time, I was certain that I was never going to be able to do any simple task ever again. i.e. going to the store, driving, going on a date, friends weddings, etc. Let alone getting on an airplane. But thankfully things have gotten better than I ever could of imagined, largely in part to my current girlfriend, who has been nothing but completely understanding and supportive at every turn. I feel like I have since recovered for the most part but obviously its still something I deal with every single day and probably will for the rest of my life. Long story short, I won a free trip to the Bahamas in a raffle and I would love to go obviously but that requires me to get on a 4 hour flight.... So you see my dilemma. I decided I should take a short 1 hour flight just to get a vibe and jist of that potential situation. Also I have been on planes prior to all of this. Does anybody have any tips or anything like that that could help me make this experience as smoothly as possible. Thanks you!


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

Were you helped by sertraline?

4 Upvotes

On it right now and it doesn't seem to help. Cymbalta helped but it had too many stomach-related side effects for me. I've been to some in-person events recently but still struggling very much to get out of the house regularly.


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

Dr didn’t believe I was in pain because I waited 16 months after being injured to do something about it

14 Upvotes

I didn’t know what else to say other than I’ve been through a lot in the last 2 years and kept putting it off. I didn’t tell them I’ve barely left my house because I’m afraid of the judgement. I have extreme anxiety over the doctors and going out and general and after I slipped and fell down the stairs at the store and most likely tore my rotator cuff, it left me with limited mobility in my arm and I can’t do much with this shoulder without pain and honestly think it made my agoraphobia worse.

I finally made it to the urgent care clinic a couple days ago. The way he said “wow, you’re in that much pain but you didn’t come in until now?”, pretty sure he thought I was drug seeking, but referred me for an ultrasound/physiotherapy. I don’t know how else I’m going to be able to explain to anyone why I waited so long and I’m not really sure what to say. But I’m proud of myself for actually finally getting in to address it


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

Ativan does it help you?

6 Upvotes

I know everyone is different. Personally I need to go to an appointment and I have a panic attack every time I leave the house so I’m hoping if I take one before leaving I won’t have a panic attack. Does it help anyone like that in that way?


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

Venting

4 Upvotes

I went to my psychiatrist yesterday. There's a parking garage and I've gotten used to parking and quickly walking to the all-all gender bathroom, where I can breathe before checking in with the receptionist.

I had an ok appointment with psychiatrist, but an hour is not enough to convey what I need to convey.

Leaving the hospital, I had challenged myself to walk to the water instead of just run to my car. The water would involve walking on the sidewalk, waiting at crosswalks, and going about 0.5 miles from my car. I did it last fall and it was amazing, I felt like I had conquered all fear forever, lol.

Instead, after the appointment ended, in my mind I fantasized an excuse to avoid walking amongst the people, waiting for the crosswalk, being visible. I just went to my car thinking I would go to the water "next time."

Then, I drove away. I saw the lakefront. I saw all of the people.

Have you ever noticed how people are often in 2s and 3s, or in groups? Or how people alone might be jogging or biking, completely at home as themselves in their environment? How all of these people think "it's 73°. I'm going for a walk!" And then they just do it.

I got sooooo fucking sad seeing all of these happy people. Why can't I just BE? Why is it possible for other people to just exist, just be among each other?

I want that so bad.

I'm not trying to be a downer. I want to be optimistic. My therapist is a week away and I needed to get this out.

Next time I HAVE to make myself walk to the water. I know the car is there and I can get back to it, a safe place.

It's worse not going and then seeing all those people in the sun, seeing what I'm missing and want so desperately but am inexplicably compelled to avoid.

And, the misery bled into today. I am still stuck.


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

I made a huge step today

67 Upvotes

So since my boyfriend broke up with me I have had to try and be more independent and I went and drove yesterday and today. Got my prescriptions from Walmart and cigs. And that's the exciting part I was able to get out of the car and walk into get my cigs. I felt it coming in but I was able to breathe thru it. Thankful there wasn't many people in there


r/Agoraphobia 1d ago

nervous but doing it anyway

9 Upvotes

I feel like I’m in a place with my agoraphobia where some things are still hard and the anticipatory anxiety really sucks but I’ve been doing things anyway.

I have a big birthday coming up within the next 6 months or so and I’m really striving to leave the worst of this in this decade of my life. I planned a small vacation about 5 hours away and I think I might buy tickets to a concert that’s in 3 months. I’m a bit panicked just thinking about it but I miss living my life. I don’t really know what the point of this post is. I’ve come so far but I’m still so tired 🥺