does anyone suffer from agoraphobia

little italy · Post by **little italy** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:49 pm

Thank you soooo very much Ms T Bones!!!!

I too want to love living again...reading this gives me hope that someday I will overcome this just like you did....I'm still having a hard time with the journal part,but am trying to get the hang of that.

Again I can't thank you enough for sharing this!!! I will learn and continue to grow from every positive story I read.

I look forward to the day that I can walk down my driveway and take a stroll up the street and back without having to worry about the anxiety monster following me!!!

Thank you for replying to this topic!!!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:01 pm

Dear Little Italy...Just stop and look that fear in the face...And say..Give me your best shot...Say things like...Come on fear is that the best that you can do??? Come on...Do this even when you are not having the panic attacks...

Remember there is nothing to fear, but fear itself....Please stop running...You cannot run from your own self...Accept that fear when it comes...Realize that it can not hurt you in any way...You are safe...Repeat this over and over...

Constantly check in on your thoughts...Replace those negative thoughts with ones that make you feel safe, content, healthy, warm and loving....
I wore a rubber band on my wrist, and every time I caught myself thinking a negative thought..I would flip it...That would bring me back into the present moment, and remind me to put a stop sign up in my mind's eye, and replace that negative irrational thought with one that was more realistic (positive)....

Remember, every time you run from a panic attack you are only adding fuel to it...You need to learn how to starve it...You can do this by facing it head on and not running...Make sure you use your deep-breathing techniques, and positive self-talk when you have that attack...Then demand it to give you it's best shot...

You may even choose to place a label on the panic attack...You could call it "Donald Duck" and imagine it having really big feet...You could say...Come on Donald Duck...Give me your best shot...You are just an illusion of my imagination, and I am not running from the likes of you...

And make sure to replace the "What ifs" with "So What Ifs"....

REMEMBER...YOU ARE THE ONE SCARING YOURSELF, AND BY DOING SO...YOU BRING ON THE BODY SYMPTOMS...YOU DO IT....JUST KNOWING THAT I WAS SCARING MY OWN SELF WITH MY NEGATIVE THOUGHTS HELPED ME TREMENDOUSLY....

I pray this helped a little more...God Bless You On You Journey To Recovery!!!!

yabanci9 · Post by **yabanci9** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 5:46 am

Ms. T Bones,

I really like your Donald Duck idea. I am going to start trying it out. I think its a good idea to try to turn your fear into something so ridiculous.

Christina8453 · Post by **Christina8453** » Fri May 08, 2009 2:03 pm

I suffer from agoraphobia. I have fear of large large stores, especially Wal-Mart, Lowe's Home Depot, the list goes on.

After listening to lesson 2 I finally got my nerve up to go into Lowes and walk around the store. I did take someone with me for support. It felt kinda scary- like waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did.

I have kind of relapsed since then and need to go back and hear lesson 2 again.

I'm sorry that you have this too, but glad that we can be support for each other as we work through this.

Christina

*D* · Post by ***D*** » Fri May 08, 2009 2:43 pm

hi all,
I used to have agrophobia. it was in 2004.I had retired from the military in 88.had spent 22 years and drove a transit bus for 10 years. after that I was resident manager of an apt building and had 2 more building and 6 houses to look after. it got so bad that i was afraid to go out. had gone through a divorce and had skin cancer.
I got the program and got the skills and tools to go out and try the things that made me afraid.
I hated stop lights and anything with lights or sirens.
I met a lady from where I grew up and it was 5 hours away and I knew that if I got on the highway I would have a heart attack and wreck and die lol.when I got on the highway there was a traffic jam and the traffic stopped and here I was scared to death. so I got out and walked around the old dodge camper.i met and talked to a few people and it helped some.the traffic moved and it was hot and I had no a/c.I finally got there and we met and have been married for a little over 4 years.
so let go of your fears and take baby steps.if I can do and and others can then you can as well.go to the store and if you only go in there you accomplished something.
get in the car and crank it up and back up and pull up and park. thats a beginning.before long you can go around the block.
take care and have a blessed weekend.if you want to read more its in my profile.thanks and sorry that it was a long post.God Bless
don
p.s. from someone that used to suffer from panic,anxiety,agrophobia,IBS,depression and derealization.

then one day in 2006 I woke up and it was gone.

Mary L. Smith · Post by **Mary L. Smith** » Thu May 14, 2009 6:18 am

*D* Thanks for shainng. I took a giant step yesterday and decided I had been cooped up long enough and went to town with my sister-in-law.
It was fun, except I ran out of oxygen! It is hard for me to tell the difference between panic attacks and my breathing disorder sometimes.
I am glad to hear your story and I hope things keep working for you

selly32 · Post by **selly32** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:21 am

I hacve now developed a little agorophobia eveytime i elave the house i panic the thought of leaving the house makes mys tummy sick i ened to nip this now before it goes to far:( im afrid i will panic cause i seem to panic everytime.

nicamo · Post by **nicamo** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 5:55 am

Hello everyone.....my story is kinda long so i'm gonna try to sum up what i want to say. I had my first panic attack 5 years ago, i then hit depression, i had no idea what i was going through and thought that demons were attacking me or that i was going crazy, or that God simply was just punishing me for stupidities i have done in my life, and so i was a bad person. Well that continued for a while until one day i saw on a television show what depression was, so when i realized i was depressed i got more depressed because i thought i had a weak mind. Time passed by and then i ordered StressCenter program, i then waited about 5 months to open the package (LOL) i said when i feel better i will open it. I was afraid, didn't know what to expect. Anyways, i started the program and got up to lesson 12 i started traveling, i still got the panic feelings but i would fight them...so i thought i felt better and then my life went on but last year i had a scary blasphemous thought and hit depression again....i started doing the program again but i get more panicky. I realize that i'm SO AFRAID OF THE PANIC ATTACKS!!!! I FEEL HORRIBLE BECAUSE MY FAMILY'S LEAVING OUT OF THE U.S. FOR A VACATION ON CAR AND I CANNOT GO WITH THEM, JUST THINKING ABOUT IT SENDS ME IN A PANIC...i had to quit my job school...i feel so bad like if i'm useless. I guess i'm gonna start the program again. But i can't shake of the fear, or the thoughts that i suffer from depresive episodes or i've had blasphemous thoughts, and that makes me sit in my room all day...i don't want to cry, a therapist friend told me if i was gonna cry make it a good 20 mns or so but honestly i don't want to cry that long.......why do i feel hopeless? why can't i be normal like the way i was. As i was reading everyone's blog i got very sentimental. Damn this anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia i wish i could kick their butts....haia judo chop!! LOL God bless you all.

Bees4me · Post by **Bees4me** » Sat Aug 01, 2009 1:31 am

Selly32 and Nicamo,
I have suffered from agoraphobia for years. I have avoided so many situations that I made my world very very small. I couldn't go into big stores (I still have trouble with this from time to time) like Home Depot: too many people, lights too bright, too much input. My social life barely exists. And I have waked up from sleep into a full fledged panic attack, so I can also identify with being afraid of the panic. I was staggered to find out that I cause the attacks and can therefore diffuse them as they come up. But the more you run from them, the more they will plague you. I find the compassionate self-talk and especially the breathing exercise in the relaxation tape to be most helpful. When all else fails, don't forget to BREATHE!
Nicamo, cry if you need to. Otherwise, you keep it all inside. You won't cry forever, but it's a good way to vent some of those bad feelings. There are lessons to be learned in each situation and we get better bit by bit.
Remember, you're not a bad person. You're a person in pain. Treat yourself as you would treat a friend. You deserve it. And congratulations for coming back and dealing with it again.

Les

nicamo · Post by **nicamo** » Sat Aug 01, 2009 6:01 am

Thank you so much. You know, most of the time i feel useless. I mean before i had a steady job, i would drive to far places by myself, do spontaneous things, take my mom places or my family, and now i can't even go to church sometimes. I feel so bad because i can't even pick up medication for my mom, or i have to rely on my older sister or brothers, and my mom has cried with me telling me that what can she do? how can she help me? I feel terrible, i wish i could just move out to a place where nobody sees me....i feel that i'll never be the same or if not the same out of this self-timing bomb...argh! But thank you so much, God i'm so emotional...crying right now. Man if i was getting paid to cry i'll be richer than bill gates (is he still one of the richest? who knows.) Anyways thanx for listening. Hey one question, should i start the program again or pick up where i left off? God bless