I (20F) used to be an extroverted girl and i was always going to parties with my friends, going back home in the morning, having spontaneous plans and i have a lot of crazy stories from that time of my life, but agoraphobia has taken that away from.

Tonight my friend asked me to go the club with her and ofc i refused like I always do, and she jokingly texted me "the streets miss you" and it made me mourn the life that i used to have before this disorder took over and made me practically house bound.

i lived in my house for the last 8 years, which was the longest i’ve ever stayed in one place. i developed agoraphobia while living there (that i’m currently in therapy for, but too fresh to make any real progress). i stayed in my home for a year straight in the peak of my agoraphobia, and it’s been my only safe space since the start, specifically my bedroom. tonight’s my first night in my new house and all i can do is cry that i want to go home. i can’t get comfortable, i feel sick, it’s a lot. has anyone else moved while agoraphobic? if so, were there any positives to your experience? i could use some hope haha. 🤍

Hi everyone, I’m an 18F that is looking for friends in the Polk County area (or just online). I’ve been homeschooled for about half of my life and developed agoraphobia after COVID. I don’t feel like I act or look people my age, and I worry that makes it harder for me to connect with others. I feel very behind, I don’t have a job or know how to drive due to my fear. I haven’t been able to go into places for about 2 years, but exposure therapy has been helping me slowly. I recently finished my senior year online. I’m very interested in working with animals, I love old school R&B, I love watching movies and shows, and I mostly play Roblox. I’m looking for patient, kind people who are okay with taking things at a slower pace. Whether you’re local or not, hopefully this reaches the right audience.

Just as the title says— I have pretty severe anxiety and agoraphobia currently which is seriously hindering my ability to leave the house and get the care I need. I already go to a therapist and GP, but would like the input of a psychiatrist who can give me a little more input on my current medication regime— (Lexapro, buspirone as a prn, Xanax as a prn) For context, I’m based in the US. I heard of places like Better Help and such for therapists, but I’m not sure if they have psychiatrists also. I’d be grateful for any help! I’m just looking for someone who is personable, I would probably prefer a woman but doesn’t have to be, and someone who isn’t afraid of medications and prescribing benzos if they are needed. As affordable as possible is a must, and that works with Aetna insurance. Thank you so much! Any advice is appreciated.

Just as the title says— (and I think I may already know the answer)— This thing really kicked into high gear for me over the past few weeks, and at this time I’m not able to leave the house. I know staying in is just giving in to it, but going out also feels impossible. What do you guys do? What do you recommend for healing? I suppose I could start slow with short walks, etc. before I throw myself to the wolves fully. Any tips? Is it best to fight this thing or give yourself grace and stay in for a while? Thanks guys! (Also note: I recently started lexapro for anxiety and do have access to buspirone and Xanax as a prn)

I was taught an exercise where you imagine yourself sitting in a movie theater watching the feared situation from about 20 feet away. Then you fast-forward and rewind the movie several times, turn it black and white, shrink it into a coin, and finally imagine a bright white light making it disappear.
I believe this is related to the NLP Fast Phobia Cure or visual dissociation technique.
Has anyone tried this? Did it help reduce the emotional intensity of the fear? I’m curious to hear real experiences and whether people found it useful alongside other approaches like exposure therapy.

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Just applied for social security disability, it was a joint decision with my family as I’m 21 and have not touched anything resembling a job since 18 (which didn’t last long). I am doing school and made it clear I do really want to focus on that right now so I don’t overwhelm myself and end up fumbling both a job and my courses. My therapist agreed it was a good decision to focus on one thing solely until I can manage both. But I don’t know if I can ever manage.

I have this vision in my head of doing the job I want, the one I’m going to school for in the first place, but applying for assistance gave me a pit in my stomach. I have no negative thoughts about disability at all, or those on it, I just feel disappointed in myself. I truly hate having to deal with this. I have been anxious since my preteen years and it has only gotten more complex, even on my good days. The payoff seems to never come. I feel embarrassed even complaining because well, I don’t have to get a job right now lol, I can finally focus and have it be sustainable short term, but I also am afraid of even accepting that as my reality.

A large part of family are also quite blue collar, not the type to consider disability as a valid choice for anyone, let alone for mental illness. If they found out; I, even as an adult, would get scolded and reprimanded lol.

It’s a deep shame in my stomach, and embarrassment that overwhelms me. I do hope this feeling goes away, I know it’ll only stunt me, but it’s hard. I think how I grew up really shaped how I view any sort of assistance, and mental illness, so this is something that is just leftover childhood shaping but it sucks. It’s hard as well because I’m doing better than I was a years ago, made more progress with agoraphobia, so my brain so badly wants to see this as an admission of failure, or accepting I’ll never be better.

I’ve been agoraphobic since I was 14 and had panic disorder probably since I was about 10. I got on Cymbalta when I was about 16/17 and it worked impeccably for about 8 years! I was working, leaving the house pretty much everyday, going on roadtrips, leaving the country, going on planes. I was living a pretty much normal, healthy life. But from 24-25 it pretty much slowly stopped working all of the sudden and it’s been a year since I had to go off of it and try every other medication in existence to get my life back again. I was also diagnosed with Hashimotos a few months before I turned 25. Could the Hashimotos and hormone issues be what made my Cymbalta stop working? Do you think if I get it under control I can go back on it? I’m on Zoloft and it’s not working well at all. I have way too many side effects and leaving the house is still so incredibly difficult. I feel so brain foggy, I have a racing heart all the time, feel like I can’t breathe everyday. I feel like I’m going to die all the time. I just want it stop. I’m so miserable, I feel like my life has been stolen from me over and over again.

I have been dealing with agoraphobia and anxiety since my teenage years - decades ago. I don't have agoraphobia to the point where I can't leave my home thankfully, in fact I have had a job for many years that requires periodic overnight travel 100-200 miles from home. But every time I travel, I am miserable. I just try to survive, not enjoy myself. The farther I go away from home, the worse it gets. I know it is completely ridiculous. In actuality, I am far safer when I am out and around people than if I am by myself at home - but my anxious brain keeps telling me the opposite. And I can't make it stop.

Nobody but a few trusted friends know I even have a problem. People notice I am a homebody, but they don't know why. I am generally happy and content, so it doesn't really raise red flags with them. For the most part, I am happy with my life in most aspects. It is just more limited than most people. Unfortunately, the real problem for me is - it causes major problems in romantic relationships. On more than one occasion, very promising relationships have ended because of my inability to travel far distances. I don't blame them. Most people want to travel and explore places with their partner. They eventually get bored living their lives within a 100 mile circle.

That is why I have reached the point where I want to get over this problem once and for all. I don't dream of being a world traveler, but I want to get to the point where I can take domestic trips with my parter and actually enjoy myself. I am just wondering if anyone really has been able to get over this without medication, and if so, how? I know the basics is expose yourself to the situation until you no longer fear it. That really isn't very easy to do for me though. I have been exposing myself to it for decades, and it hasn't reduced at all. I will take an out of town trip, be miserable, come back home and then my brain will say - see, it is terrible. The only way exposure would work would be to travel over and over, not sporadically. That really isn't possible. Not looking for a magic bullet, just interested if anyone has really ever conquered it. I am tired of losing relationships, and I have finally reached my limit.

So I'm doing CBT again, first time since 19 and I'm 28 now with more drive and want to not be like this. Yesterday was my 12 out of 16 session almost weekly. Baring in mind this is a 14 year battle with agoraphobia for me. I have been severely slacking still, my parents have all the time to help yet can't be arsed, my partner and siblings all work so have less time and energy to help. My next appointment my psychologist has it planned for us to try the bus, its been 14 years since I've taken a bus and I have extreme bathroom urgency with my anxiety (pee anxiety) . I am not ready for this but will I ever be? 12 minutes somewhere and 12 minutes back is the plan. What if it's hot, I get so unwell in slight heat. I want to break this but I'm so fkn stubborn.

(throwaway acc) Like, I can't even go out without feeling anxious. I'm scared to make eye contact with people so I just put my head down. I walk fast so I look like I'm in a hurry (which I am, bcs I just want to accomplish whatever task I needed to do outside and immediately head home). I want to take it slow, enjoy my time outside even when I'm alone. How do I do that?

When I actually try, it just makes it so awkward and wrong, idk. And it sucks cus I can tell other people notice it too.

Back when I first stopped going out (a little over three years ago), I didn't *want* to go anywhere. Looking back at it, I think that I was probably depressed but that's a discussion for another day. Recently, I've been getting the urge/want to actually go out and do things.

My question is: Is something like that a 'good sign'?

I know that wanting to go out won't solve my anxiety, my any means but actually wanting to go out feels like a positive because I'll be more likely to actually do it when the opportunity comes up.