Could prolonged lockdown trigger agoraphobia?

[Whitefeather01]

Although obviously vital, I don't think there is enough emphasis on the mental health side to the lockdowns.

Do you think in some cases this will trigger agoraphobia?

i already feel a bit agoraphobic ,i have social phobia and people now make me jump a mile.I went to the supermarket the other day and not all are observing social distancing .The moment someone brushes against me it makes jump.

I feel like years of gradually getting better with people is being undone and its going to take me a great deal of time to get used to crowds again.I think there will be many the same but it will take a long time for things to go back

I think so. It's going to take a long time for people to feel safe being in shops and surrounded by people, when we've had it drummed into us that other people and public places are not safe. It's hard to undo that mindset.
At the moment home feels like the only protection.

Yes, I think it definitely could, and will.

Yesterday was our first day out after 14 days. I went to the supermarket for a shop, but it took me hours to work myself up for it, and it was scary.
It definitely feels safer indoors, and that will definitely manifest stronger in some people

Possibly. Some people are genuinely terrified of going outside at the moment. For some people that wont pass for a long time.

I did wonder about this, the effects of agoraphobia never really go away.
In my early 20's (50's, now) I spent 2 years afraid to go out.
I questioned these effects when lockdown was first suggested, and wondered if I'd get used to it.
Already, I don't feel like going out, but luckily my dh remembers what it was like, we'd not long been together and it was a strain on our new (then) relationship.
He's strongly encouraging me to take walks and already I'm coming up with excuses not to, we even have a park literally across the road.

Absolutely!

I said to my DH the other day that if I manage to get out of this without developing it it would be a miracle.

I am an introvert anyway, but the thought of going outside again terrifies me. I get to our garden gate and physically can't bring myself to go any further. Its comforting to think that I don't have to go anywhere and that most things can be delivered.

I’ve been wondering that myself if it goes on for months

It's a very strange and frightening feeling that something as normal as going food shopping could kill you if you are not both super careful and lucky. I don't know how people get over that tbh.
I think the problems might not be apparent as soon as the crisis is over but will come out in the future, like a delayed shock or something.

I'm sure it will OP.

Agoraphobia and OCD regarding handwashing and touching things.

I've always considered myself to be blessed with robust mental health but I can, at times, feel myself

slipping towards paranoia regarding cleanliness and touching things so really feel for those who already

had issues around these things.

I do hope they have enough money in the pot for mental health services once they've finished shopping

for ventilators and temporary hospitals.

I don't think so. I think it is more likely to result in increased levels of social anxiety though. I am enjoying social distancing and staying at home, but then I am not the most socially extroverted individual anyway. I don't suffer with social anxiety as such, but do find social interaction hard work. I can well imagine I am going to have to really pull it together before I attempt any sort of social interaction face to face. For those with genuine social anxiety I should imagine it will be very difficult.

Wingedharpy, yes to the OCD I can imagine we will all find it a difficult habit to break, that's if its even a good thing to break. But genuine tendencies to OCD hand washing will be entrenched.

I haven't been indoors this much since my last very serious depressive episode, and what it's doing to me is making me feel extremely depressed because my body is to all intents and purposes acting out a depressive episode so my mind is going along with it for me (thank you, brain). All my usual coping mechanisms apart from my one walk a day have been taken from me, and it's going to be a while for me to get back into the swing of them, I think, because I will have been programmed to associate, say, the swimming pool with fear of infection.

I had agoraphobic symptoms for a few years in my mid 20s. At its worst I didn’t leave the house for about 4 months and then only very locally to family for the next couple of years. I recovered in 2016 after having my DD, a complete turnaround where I was going abroad, shopping centres etc.

I have wondered whether this could set me back. The mood has notably dipped where we live in the last week & going out has been less pleasant but not anxiety or panic inducing. I think it depends if you are fearful of the underlying causes of the lockdown and although they may be rational, it could cause an irrational response like not being able to leave your own home.

My only concern at the moment is how long this goes on for & what civil liberties we get back at the end of it. I’ve already done my own self imposed lockdown of sorts back then and having to do it again does feel like a bit of a kick in the hypothetical bollocks.

For me? More like claustrophobic. Can't wait to lie on the grass in a big park where I can't see any walls!

I’m a recovering agoraphobic, just about manage with things most of the time, this nonsense has set me back a long way.

I’m seriously stressed about being among people. Had a few tears in supermarket car park as a result of someone expecting me to know the rules they had implemented that day, it’s this falling foul that drives my fear. (Abusive ex and extreme isolation in godforsaken land)

I have no idea what I’ll have to do to get past this, but I have survived worse, I can survive this and put myself back together again.

Thankfully my absolute rock of a oh understands how to help, and I’m good when I’m with him or with my ds. I can get help/meds/therapy up if it’s necessary, although I’m hoping to not have to.

I do hope they have enough money in the pot for mental health services

There will be no money in the pot for anything once this is over.

My partner and I both swing between agoraphobia and claustrophobia and both are being massively triggered by this effecting our mental health.

I have been agoraphobic since childhood - my mum is the same, my gran and her sister are the same too; their mother was similar and her mother in turn ... I also have ocd and varying other labels ... I had an enormous fear that if I went outdoors at all I’d die . I’ve had two big episodes that have lasted 3 or 4 years each time .

I spent 99% of 2019 indoors very ill with mental health , but over the last two months I was actually beginning to feeling a lot better after lots of hard work with GP, CMHT, and medication .

Overnight I’m back to being stuck indoors - I’m too scared to go out even for a walk as I’m convinced the air around us will kill us . I’m devastated and so very sad, that I actually felt slightly relieved when the government said we couldn’t go out ... I was looking forward to ‘new’ experiences again like going to the shops and having lunch in a cafe or even going back to work ... now I’m back indoors and I can’t see me ever leaving my house again . Even if they say it’s OK, I’ll never get rid of the fear that not washing my hands a hundred times a day might kill me and my family .

I thought that this morning.

I especially worry for children. I think developing a sort of 'staged return' to normal life would be helpful if this goes on a long time. My child is very very adaptable but others aren't and those children will struggle with the return.

I'm ok with going outside but I can feel myself developing a real phobia of people getting too close to me. Even when my children hug me I find I am tensing up if their faces get too close to mine 😥.

I feel like I'm already there. A guy had a go at me in the shop the other day for stepping too close to him and now I'm terrified to go anywhere.

I was agoraphobic and had OCD as part of my PND. I’d managed to get past it but I can feel it coming back. I’m finishing 14 days of isolation tomorrow and terrified to go out.

Even worse my eldest DS has SEN including anxiety - he is also now frightened of going out. I’m going to try to get us all out for a walk down the street tomorrow

I had agoraphobia in my 20s now again going through meno in my 50s.
I was just improving with hrt and about to restart driving lessons!.TBH I like the fact the streets are quieter.The only place I went was to work and back.lots of places that closed I couldn't cope with efore so I guess I am lucky in that sense.
If it is lucky to have anxiety that is.

I’ve had this in the past, and I can definitely feel it creeping back up on my again. I don’t mind me, I feel like I can tackle me, but my son is scared. I keep suggesting we go for a walk round the block and he keeps saying “no! It’s dangerous!” Or “ we aren’t allowed”. I’m trying to reassure him, but we are isolating for 12 weeks minimum (we live with someone who’s had chemo) and it’s becoming his norm. I don’t know how you reverse that?