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Manarinorange
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Member Since Jun 2024
Location: Washington
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Default Jun 12, 2024 at 02:50 PM
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArmorPlate108 View Post
I struggled with pretty severe agoraphobia about 15 years ago. My DD was a toddler, and I was exhausted and dealing with anxiety. My mind was so keyed up and reactive that leaving home was nearly impossible- being at home was bad enough. It was a challenge just to leave the house and walk down the driveway to get the mail.

Dr. Claire Weekes wrote a book titled Simple Effective Treatment of Agoraphobia that changed things for me. Unfortunately, it's out of print and can be a difficult book to find for a reasonable price, but Dr. Weekes understood that agoraphobics can have difficulty getting treatment, so geared her approach to a guided, self-help model. Some people refer to her as the OG of cognitive behavioral therapy, which is what her method is.

She also has another good book, that's a little more readily available, titled Hope and Help for Your Nerves.

CBT is a slow and steady process, but can be effective. Fifteen years later, I can walk out the door and go pretty much anywhere without anxiety or a second thought. I had very noticeable improvement within about six months of starting, and by year 8 had developed a relatively high anxiety/stress tolerance. There is hope.

Sending lots of hugs and prayers your way.

Thank you so much for the information! Yes I'm going to ask my therapist to do some cbt with me since it can help many of my ailments. I'm on medicaid and finding therapists that stick around once they fill like they have enough experience. But the one I have now has stuck around. I've only been seeing her once a month, but I'm going to see if we can do phone appointments bc I know that she can do those and start working on cbt weekly.
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