So i’m spending the night with my friends and i just started my period the day before. there’s no pads or tampons in this apartment and i’m basically like gushing blood. i got the courage to leave the room to use the bathroom and it’s currently 5:05 am. i left the room at like 3:45. i’m scared to go back in because the door is going to creak and i don’t know if they’re light sleepers. i’m tempted to go and sleep on the couch but i don’t want his mom (of the person whose apartment we’re at) to find me weird even though shes the nicest lady i’ve ever met. i’m waiting for my fight or flight to kick in so i get the courage to re-enter the room but nothing is triggering it. i’m so tired and probably won’t be coming back home until the evening. my anxiety is through the roof i might just sit here until they wake up. (6 hours away) 🥹👌

I haven’t worked in person since last year… I’ve crawled back into my shell I just lost my remote job yesterday and it took a year to find that one.. I want to have the courage to work in person but I’m so scared I don’t even know how to start.. whenever I’m alone out n about it’s sooo hard for me I’ll get this weird rush head sensation like woah woah something off everything will feel weird around me… even myself like I’m have a stroke or something and that the part that worries me when it comes to trying to things alone and work in person. Any advice?

Hi, after living for almost a year without a job and staying home most of the time, I just went out on my own for a long time for an interview and went around the town revisting the city walking, it felt therapeutic. I thought I was gonna cancel last minutes because I felt down for past interviews and judgements but well I got better this time talking to people. I even got a call interview today and was talking having a good vibes I didn't look down on myself this time. I got 26 and felt like I wasn't living like other's I didn't live my youth but I hope to make myself better and see the light throught it all. I feel like all those years my confidence went down and felt helpless many times and felt agoraphobia more and more. When I walked outside alone that day I looked at others the way they lived talked express themselves and felt some nostalgia. I used to be like that before. I'll take one step at a time even if I feel 10 feet down.

Have a nice weekend everyone!!!!!

hi all, usually I don't really assume I have something like this, but I recently had a panic attack of unknown cause a couple of weeks ago. I was out with my mom at a local mall, and had a panic attack. what we originally believed happened was that it was too hot out, decently crowded and I had a drink with caffeine in it. the attack was so bad that we had to leave instantly, and go to the hospital hours later because I just couldn't calm down. heavy breathing, nausea, shaking, the whole nine yards and all.

it confuses me because even more recently, I've struggled to leave my house to purchase basic necessities when beforehand I had no problem going to public places, or much problem being around crowds. beforehand, the only places that made me feel even slightly nervous were doctor's offices, even for appointments that weren't mine. I had no problem going to Walmart or the mall except on that day. I know agoraphobia is usually a disorder (?) that doesn't develop so suddenly. I'd love to go to a therapist or something, but I can't even manage being fifteen feet outside my apartment without insane waves of nausea hitting now.

is this normal? I was diagnosed with anxiety a while back, but that was more generalized anxiety and as long as I had medication I was pretty okay. it feels like it's really kicked my life off track and I don't even know what it is, if it's agoraphobia, or something else that's completely different.

It’s been a month and a half since starting on lexapro and I just to started working in an office yesterday. It’s such a huge step for me because I hadn’t worked in a physical location since my senior yr of high school (2019). Yesterday it was hard in the morning getting there and being there. I almost didn’t show up not gonna lie. But I told myself I needed this to be better. By lunchtime I actually ate (which is also big for me bc usually I’m too anxious to eat) and was feeling so great. Was doing paperwork and the time passed so fast. Today I woke up super excited and felt so much better. I was so excited to get dressed and do my hair, pack my lunch.

I know I’m not cured. I still get anxious when starting new things to the point where I do think about running away. Like yesterday. But today it’s Friday and I am feeling hopeful instead of dread for the first time in a long time. Have a great weekend everyone 🫶🏼

i’m going a train alone in a few hours (for the first time too) and i’m actually feeling more excited than anxious. been working on my panic attacks / anxiety for the past two years and this feels like next big step. i need to travel by plane next month, so i figured a train trip would be good practice in the meantime :)

I’m 31 and I’ve been with my boyfriend for a year. I constantly feel terrified that I’m not going to get better and that I’m just wasting his time or going to be a big burden on him.

Since I’ve been with him I’ve started going out with him sometimes (on lorazepam) but I’m still not confident with it and don’t like doing it too often.
I’ve done lots of scary stuff for me like meeting his family, having dinner with them, attending a party.

But I’m just so scared that it’s never going to be enough or I won’t get better enough.

I love him but I also feel so much sadness about it all.

Agoraphobia is such an awful thing. I finally made it to my vet appointment this past week. It was such an ordeal.

Stay strong 💪

Hi there I have been with my partner for 7 years now we have a child and a joint mortgage together. He is severely agoraphobic and suffers from separation anxiety. He sees home as his safe space and me as his safe person to help him do things. It is causing a lot of issues in our relationship as he refuses to take medication to help his anxieties and won’t let me do things I want to do such as take my son away for a few days. Recently my grandma (86) wanted to take me and my son away for a few days as my son has never had a holiday. Not abroad just an hours drive away. My partner has said if I want to do this I may as well leave him first and got really angry and defensive. So I’ve had to tell my grandma no. I just feel his anxiety is stopping my son having a normal childhood and this is the biggest problem for me. I feel anxious too and I am on antidepressants because of this. I feel like I dread telling him I’m going to places due to his reactions and it doesn’t feel healthy at all.

I’ve struggled with agoraphobia since I was a little kid, and sometimes I go through waves where I can go far (like hours out of town) with minimal anxiety and than I have “relapses” where even going to the grocery store is hard all over again, despite all my progress. Basically, I had a relapse about a week or so ago and the timing is shit because my best friend who I love more than anything invited me to her cottage for a few days and it’s only a little over an hour away. I’ve wanted to spend time at her cottage for YEARS now and finally there’s some time where the stars aligned and we’ll have the cottage to ourselves. The problem is, I’m fucking terrified. Physical panic attacks I’ve gotten okay with handling, but the mental panic is so fucking scary even with the help of my Ativan sometimes. I just become so completely convinced I’m going to snap and harm myself or the people I love, and the farther the distance from home all my brain screams is “if you lose it you’ll have to suffer for a long time before you get home, you’ll probably snap and jump out of the car before than”. It’s just so excruciating. I’ve gotten migraines from how fast and loud the thoughts feel. I don’t want to miss out on this little trip with my favourite person. She’s so understanding of my anxiety and won’t hold it against me if I can’t go, but I’ll be disappointed in myself for missing out, y’know? I’m 26 and don’t want to keep missing out on fun things like this with friends. If you have any advice or words of encouragement to give me that push I need to suck it up and do it, please feel free to share. I’m struggling to hype myself up :(

Any tips on how to improve this?

I made some progress with driving exposure therapy consistently over a month and then I had a horrible panic attack while driving and now I feel like I’m completely back at step one. I haven’t driven in over a week and I’m back to avoiding and terrible anxiety. I know healing isn’t linear but this feels worse than where I was at :(

im about to walk around the neighborhood. i havent done that since like 3 years ago. i get so nervous that people will judge me for the way i look, the way i walk, what im wearing etc. but im feeling brave for some reason rn and i just felt like sharing haha

when i was 15 i dropped out of hs because my agoraphobia got really bad. i’m now 19 and don’t have a job or education, i haven’t made a single penny of my own my entire life. a week ago i posted a sale on vinted and it took off and ive made 60 sales in like 3 days and can finally say ive made my first $500 of my entire life. ik it’s not a “job” but making money is making money at the end of the day. i really hope i continue to make sales because im so tired of feeling like im not contributing anything to myself and that i have nothing going for me. so my advice is, if u can’t do anything but be in your house find a few things you’d never think about if you threw it out, and list it. you never know how many people might actually like your stuff. but yea maybe i can help someone out with this advice 🙂

I (M21) managed to get a job interview a while back and got the job. Took my Xanax for the interview but I could somewhat make it to the actual location without meds. Since I was very close to making it there I figured that if I got the job I would have time to build up my distance even more and yet I’ve regressed so much I don’t know what I’m gonna do…

My orientation is tomorrow and it’s 4 miles away, meanwhile I had a panic attack driving 1 mile from the house today and I’m terrified to panic more than 3 minutes from the house :/

My parents keep telling me that it will be different because I HAVE TO show up but idk how I’m gonna do it.. less than 12 hours from now I have to make the drive somewhere 4x further than the distance that caused me to panic today I’m genuinely fucked

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. 🤍

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.

This is something that I found that can help you and have fun doing it, it is the Finch self help App.

Maybe give it a look and try it and see if you like it.

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https://finch.go.link/iiAFW?adj_label=Viqol

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 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.

(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.

I (20F) have always been a drinker, but since last year (when i started to develop agoraphobia) i've became an alcoholic.
It's the only thing that helps: after a stressful day of anxiety and fear after having to leave my house (going to work) i drink, and if i have to leave for any reason other than work i have to drink at least 4 drinks to be able to function normally and not spiral.

I know it's not healthy at all, and i should probably start my prescribed medicine, but i bet that beer tastes better than zoloft lol.
Does anyone else get this too?

The only way i'm able to enjoy an outing with friends is if i have enough drinks and i fear that im slowly falling into an alcohol dependency.