Agoraphobia

[Devlesko]

I've become used to not going out and can see the signs as I've been here before, feel panicky thinking about it, even.
I'm not scared of the virus even though I have underlying health issues.
I also think I may be asymptomatic or had it very mildly.
I know we can't do much at the moment anyway, but I don't even go for a walk really, not often, anyway.
I don't take any meds at the moment as fine, but do live with depression.
Was agoraphobic about 30 years ago, for 2 years.
Any suggestions on how to stop it.

Hi as someone who was a previous suffering with agoraphobia for a year. I had it back in 2018 and I understand how awful it is. You want to start yourself with small goals about going out every day or every other day even if it’s just around your block or a couple of houses from your place to build up your confidence. You need to remember the anxiety feelings cannot harm you and they will subside once you face the fear and get through it. The only way to get through it is to confront your fears which is exposure therapy. You’ve been through it before and overcame it so you can do it again. I also recommend asking your doctor about a small dose of medication, beta blockers or even try something such as calms if you’re anti medication. Good luck

Aw, thank you so much for replying. It's exactly what I'd tell others, but sometimes you don't see reason, just the fear, which I don't understand atm.

Of course I know that feeling when your hands are sweaty your mouth is dry and all you can think about is if you don’t go back now you’re going to faint! Truth is that never happens. It’s actually nearly impossible to faint as what you are feeling is the fight or flight symptoms which you’ve been told about. Anxiety is there to help you get away from any dangers and stems back from when we were cavemen! I’ve tried to realise that anxiety is there to protect me but sometimes it’s there for no reason and what you need to do is try and train your brain that walking down the road is not a danger. I know it’s difficult when all you feel is fear but to overcome it once is great hope that you WILL do it again. I’m on a low dose of medication it’s only 20mg my doctor even said I could up my dose as it’s hardly anything at all but I find it takes the edge off of things, and once you’re in a situation where you feel anxiety you stay there for 5-10 minutes and you can feel the fear subsiding as your body realises there is no fear, and then you keep going. My coping mechanism was to take a water bottle everywhere I went as I would panic when my mouth got dry, now I can go to places without it. My anxiety is still pretty bad when I go to the shop at the moment but I mainly put that down to stresses of the current situation.

Thank you halli

What you say makes sense. I suppose it just worried me a bit coming on as it did.
Perhaps I'll understand what the fear is in a couple of days.
it's certainly not fear of the virus.
Maybe it's fear of not going out becoming the norm again, but surely the panic would be staying in not going out.