Not Sure How To Describe It..."Temporary Agoraphobia?"

I apologize immediately if my using the actual diagnosis term offends anyone. I'm by no means diagnosing myself.

I'm just wondering if anyone else struggles with being afraid to go outside some days for no reason? I experience this sometimes, experienced it today and wasn't able to go to school. Has anyone been able to deal effectively with this issue?

If you aren't in therapy already, can you start? Do you have access through school? I think this is a good time for you to check in with someone, tell them what you are going through.

That is what helped me with anxiety preventing me from sometimes leaving the house. Meds might help too along with anything else that helps diminish the background level of anxiety.

I do not mean to alarm you, but this is how agoraphobia starts. You do not suddenly wake up one day to discover that you've spent 6 months completely housebound. It starts with a few days a month, then a few days a week, and eventually you can't step foot outside. It is so gradual that people did not realize that I even had a problem until I hit rock bottom!

That is why this is so important for you to bring this up with your treatment team--before it gets out of hand. Explore what is scary outside and confront it. I know you can do it.

Best wishes,

whoswho

I know exactly how you feel! I was like that yesterday, didnt leave the house.
I feel safer at home, like i know what to expect and have more freedom- that relieves the worries about not being able to make it to the bathroom, or getting hungrey, because you can do those whenever you want.
The way i deal is i force myself to- you dont want to be locked in your house all the time, like they said agorephobia starts off small.....its hard, i have cried and gotten sick to my stomach, but i knew it had to be done.
Sometimes it is too hard to get out, and i cant do it.....but you are stronger that you think.
I understand, and hope things get better for you (:

I haven't been diagnosed with agoraphobia but I have realized that over the last couple years I prefer to spend all my time inside my home. I prefer winter because it gives me an excuse to stay home without feeling as guilty. I feel like I want to go and do things, I day dream about smiling and feeling so happy being out and about but when I do those things I am unhappy and stressed out. I am constantly in a state of worry. I figure out every exit, bathroom, scan my surroundings at all times. I am safe in my home and am in complete control. I have talked to my therapist because I know it's becoming a problem. I can't even take my kids out to the swing set in our back yard. I was scared a stray dog would come in my yard. Sad I know

I do notice I am much better when I don't have my kids with me. I am extremely anxious in public with my kids for fear something will happen out of my control and I feel so vulnerable. I can't enjoy myself

Errr.... so I wrote a whole thing, and it signed me out and aI lost it. I hate when that happens!

Anyway!

I'm going through the same thing, so I feel like I can comment on this with an understanding of what you're feeling. I know if feels impossible to get out, like if you push it it's going to kill you, and "it" isn't really anything. I hate when people ask me what I'm so afraid of, because I can't answer. I'm just afraid. But it is possible to get through that.

If it's really minor, and you have to go, force it. Sometimes it's just getting past the door that you need to do. I have a hard time with transitional moments. I am either in the house or out of the house and I forget the leaving the house part (I think I dissociate), but because of that sometimes I forget how to get out of the house. If you do leave, and it's not any better, then at least you tried.

Second, sometimes I find I can't leave on my own, but if someone physically comes and gets me then I can. I'm by no means happy about it, but I can do it, and by the time I'm doing what I was suppose to be doing (groceries, class, therapy or some other appointment) I am able to function mostly normally. Having someone physically there does help, at least for me, in the minor to medium cases of this. I simply call my mom and say "mom, i can't leave," and she knows to come and help me.

I know it seems like a lot to ask someone, but if it's someone that really cares about you, it won't be as much of a burden I don't think. I have asked my mom about it a hundred times, and she says she doesn't mind because she wants me to be okay, and because as a result we've gotten to spend a lot of time together. Me and my mom were close before, but now we're like best friends. It's really nice.

And for the times I can't get out; I stocked up on caned food and freezer food. I have a lot of periods when I just can't cook, the same as I can't leave. There's a wall there in my head and I don't want to push it because it might hurt. Often they happen at the same time. I also keep on top of my schoolwork, so when I do have to email my prof or TA they know for sure it's not because I'm slacking (they know I'm having issues).

I hoped this helped. I was writing about this in another thread if you want to check it out. I'm about to go reply to it now. Don't worry about getting judged, and if you need help ask. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here and I don't mind talking.

The older I get the more I become that way too. My home is where I am safest. I suffer from complex ptsd.
Many days I can't wait for work to be over or for the weekend to come so I don't have to go anywhere.
I fight it though because I know that living in total isolation is not a good thing.

My youngest son has been like that for several years and I have always encouraged him to keep going because the alternative is worse. He is currently away at school and is always trying to find a reason to come home and some days he is filled with panic and anxiety and we talk through it to keep him reasonable and more importantly, in school.

It isn't easy for either of us and I can see us becoming co-dependent if I allowed it. I stay very aware of the situation.

I hope you can stay strong to fight it also.

Fear can manifest itself in several ways. What trauma are you bearing? When did it take place? Many physical ailments, mimic, mental disorders when we experience stuff it down, it always return in some form or another. Your's has get back as a sort of anxiety disorder or agoraphobia. Find out a therapist and work through it, what ever it is. Take care and good luck.

I also experience this sometimes. There are days where I feel I simply cannot leave my house. Luckily, this is usually when I am sick or very depressed and/or anxious and would be out of work anyway. However, about once a week or so, I will do something similar at work...I will lock myself in my office. My office is a safe place for me also. People tend to know to stay away from me unless it is urgent.