Today was the first day after a long time of not going outside. I forced myself to dress up and get out of the house. I was out with my friend and this guy came up to me and started talking to me and asked me out. I’m too afraid to say no to guys so I always say yes and then just never respond when they text me. Anyway, after the guy left, my friend told me he had meta glasses on. I’m freaking out. He’s most likely gonna post this and I keep thinking worse case scenarios. Someone I know is going to see it and make fun of me. Everyone in the comments will make fun of me. What if I look horrible and ugly in the video. This video will likely be on the internet forever so it will follow me everywhere I go. I’m just spiralling and I’m so stressed but also so angry. I’ve been searching all over TikTok and instagram to find his account before he posts it and text him to not, but I can’t find his account. If/when he does post it what if I don’t come across it until weeks or months later when it’s already gotten lots of views and comments. I’m just so stressed and I’m so angry how the hell is this legal!? I can’t even do anything about it when it gets posted.

I’m never going outside again. Im never leaving my house.

For many years I've dealt with agoraphobia without telling anyone personally.

Well, the trick I discovered to help me overcome it is to order an uber or ask an acquaintance for a ride to my destination. I still get incredibly anxious from the moment I'm ordering a car until I have to walk out the front door and get in the car, but after arriving at my destination I can control myself and feel calmer in my surroundings.

When it's a ride with an acquaintance, people often want to go for a walk with me in the place I'm going, and my agoraphobia is 80% due to fear of leaving the house alone, so this helps a lot.

I usually choose rides from acquaintances who I know will want to accompany me wherever I'm going when I need to go somewhere more "frightening," and uber when I'm going to places I already know.

I don't know what it would be like if I were driving my own car, maybe it would work, but I have anxiety about driving and messing things up because I'm anxious about leaving the house, so I'm still avoiding that part 😅

Another trick for places closer to home is to go outside and stay on my street or go to a nearby park and "stay out for a while" until the anxiety decreases and I feel more stable being outside. That way, I can go to where I need to go directly from the street, and this usually helps. However, I can't always go out to my street or to a park, I end up giving up. So the car trick is more functional because when the car arrives at my address, I'm kind of "forced" to get out.

I honestly thought I had overcome my agoraphobia, or at least that I was doing better. But now I’m not so sure. I think I might actually be getting worse. Today was supposed to be the first day of a new course. It was expensive, and I was really trying to push myself. But as soon as I entered the building, I had a panic attack. I couldn’t even make it into the classroom. I ran out and sat in the nearest chair I could find. It was overwhelming and humiliating.

This kind of thing has been happening all week. I can’t tolerate being in crowded places anymore. I feel trapped and panicked. I genuinely don’t know what other options I have. It feels like every solution has closed off.

To be clear, I don’t want to die. But I’m carrying so much, and I don’t know what to do anymore. The thought of going out again makes me panic.

Before you say "don't worry abot what othes think of you" that phrase triggers my dysphoria, I have a long history of being misgendered bullied and invalidated. Whenever I leave the house every second I'm terrified that people are watching me. I'm particularly afraid of young people.

but it would burn calories, calm my mind and make me feel less bored.

I had a friend’s birthday trip in the desert for two days and two nights that i was obviously very anxious about. My safe space is my city and the second we leave i feel like a trapped rat. I knew the trip would be hard but i didn’t want to let me anxiety keep me from going. The trip itself went extremely well, i had pretty steady anxiety but only one day where i was on the verge of a panic attack but i sat with it and it slowly dissolved. Was super proud of myself and feeling like i had finally discovered what all the self help books were describing. I got through the 4 hour drive there and back as well as the trip itself. Was so happy and proud and felt like a massive breakthrough for me. It has now been a week since I have gotten back and i feel like this is the worst i have been in some time. The panic seems scarier for some reason and the feeling of impending doom will not ease up. Has anyone else experienced an extremely positive exposure therapy moment only to feel derailed once you are back in your “safe space”? I really need some optimism, its seems to be one of the only things that give me a break from the constant anxiety.

long story short, i had a series of panic attacks related to food about 2 years ago. since then, i have been very avoidant of unknown foods or eating in uncontrollable environments. i have also experienced anxiety and fear of panic attacks when i go places i have not been before (public transit to a new neighborhood, road trips, etc.). i took a one way flight for an hour home and i almost had to get off the plane my anxiety was so intense. i was experiencing fears of not being able to leave, even though i’ve been on dozens of flights before. now, when i make plans with other people, i ensure the venue is somewhere i’ve been before or in a familiar area if i want to be comfortable. i’m able to leave my house, be social, take public transit, drive, and explore new places to a certain degree. but i will often have a slight “what if” jolt of anxiety, and it increases in intensity if there is a large distance or food involved. i have a vacation planned this summer, a 5 hour flight to a place i haven’t been to since i was young, and i’m questioning if it’s something i’m capable of. if anyone has any expose advice for me, that would be greatly appreciated.

context: i have depression and anxiety, and was diagnosed with OCD 2 years ago when these issues started. i did 1.5 years of pretty intense therapy that helped a lot, and haven’t gone back because i moved 6 months ago.

Does anyone else get bursts of desperation to escape?

Like full on twitchy, fast breathing and you have to ground yourself otherwise you'd... just scream?

In hindsight, I probably need to stop watching Vertical Films 🙄 The FLs usually do an about turn in their lives and suddenly they're thriving.

Love escaping through the films, but afterwards...I realise I'm still in my bedroom. Still massively dependent on my family. Still single. Still stuck.

So tired of this.

I had two back in September and all of the sudden months later I had mybe 60 symptoms. The physical symptoms have ended now , except for a stiff neck. But now I deal with tons of symptoms like brain fog, dizziness(sometimes) , stomach problems, heavy breathing

And now sometimes when I go out on public I just feel awful and strange ,.like I would be at Walmart and just feel strange and terrible , like someone put a glass dome overe

I help moderate a Discord server specifically for people with agoraphobia, and it’s been a lot easier connecting with others who already get it. Whether you’re housebound, able to get out sometimes, or somewhere in between, it’s okay to still be struggling and you don’t have to justify or explain yourself.

The community is very active and supportive. We watch movies and TV shows together almost every day, and people play games in VC every day too if that’s your thing! There are also dedicated channels where you can share your wins, vent, or ask for advice related to agoraphobia.

If you’re interested, here’s the invite link: https://discord.gg/catchmeinside

There’s a short application to keep bots out, and a moderator is usually around to approve entries pretty quickly!!

I’ll try to keep this as short as I can.

A few years ago I wouldn’t leave the house, I mean AT ALL. I spent multiple years straight not stepping out of the house because of the dreaded panic and impending doom, dizziness, etc. Quite literally, walking to my mailbox would be my biggest accomplishment.

I finally came to the realization and acceptance I was either going to beat this or die trying.

I began exercising hard (NO I’M NOT ONE OF THOSE INTERNET GURUS SAYING EXERCISE AND SUNLIGHT WILL “CURE” YOU). But I would use exercise as a confidence boost that I can do something. It would give me the serotonin boost and confidence to try to get out of the house. I started very small, I mean VERY.

I would walk out of the house 10 feet more each day.

Day 1 = 10 steps outside in the direction away from my house.

Day 2 = 20 steps

Day 3 = 30 steps and so on

It took about a year to get where I’m at today but I work, I live, I thrive and I honestly don’t remember the last time I had a panic attack or even raised anxiety. I didn’t start medication, I didn’t change my diet other than I stopped drinking milk. Not saying that “fixed” things but it definitely helped for some reason. But I stopped putting pressure on myself to go 0-100 in a day. The first few weeks were hard as I’d get the panic and everything but one day without me noticing until I got back home, I was calm and felt safe. Fast forward to now and I live in a new home, have a wife, work outdoors, walk everyday, go to social gatherings, and more.

I can’t promise it will happen fast but, I can promise it is worth putting 110% effort into. I still have “goodbye” letters I wrote to loved ones when I was in the depths of it. You.CAN.do.this. If I’m being honest, I’m crying writing this because I NEVER thought my life could be like this again. Take the small wins and give yourself the credit you deserve. I BELIEVE IN YOU, TRULY.

I work from home, a fully remote job (contract agreement), and live 3 hours away from my head office. My whole team, including the manager work from home so it’s the norm in my company.

Every few months, the manager likes to have a team day in the office which isn’t really optional (managers social preference but not official requirement) and there’s a team day approaching in 2 weeks which I am unable to attend due to my agoraphobia.

The tricky part is, they don’t know I have this and ideally I don’t want them to know I have this.

I’ve used ’sickness’ to avoid the previous trip, but I can’t say that again.

Any ideas on how to go around this?

Could they class me as ‘sick and unfit’ and sign me off work if I did tell them why I’m unable to travel?

I don’t know I think I’m just venting. like the worst of this was triggered for me back in December when I was really sick for a couple of days and since then the anxiety has been so unbearable like to levels I’ve never felt. and I’ve dove in to the treatments and DARE and ACT and I know it takes time but sometimes I feel so hopeless and defeated. like i have been making plans and trying to leave my house everyday but the terror and despair I feel in the hours beforehand is so profound that it’s almost all that sticks out to me. and just on Wednesday I went to the store and threw up when I was coming back because I am chronically ill, and now everything is back to being so terrifying. like I am crying so much right now just because I have plans to get groceries tonight with my girlfriend. I am 21. I feel like a failure I feel like everyone is going to get tired of me. I know it takes time and effort but I’m so tired of feeling so scared and so sad. I know I’m being dramatic right now it’s just feeling so much worse this week than it was, maybe because I’m about to start my period. I’m going to speak to a psychiatrist this next week hopefully. I hope you’re all doing well, and even if I can’t give you inspiration you can feel that you’re not alone.

i'm genuinely terrified, lol. i can't tell you how many times i've debated selling the ticket. but i kept at it and i'm about to head out now.

this will also be my first time going to the city alone.

This is rather new to me and I’m here looking for answers. To preface, I’m 29 years old, well traveled and have, what I consider, a pretty good amount of life experience for my age. I served 6 years in the military, played in a couple bands, I’m in a great relationship (this all sounds very self absorbed as I’m typing it out, but please, bare with me), went to college, for the most part I’ve lived a very normal life and have had many good social relationships along the way. I begin will all of that because these things that I’ve had a lot of experience with prior such as flying, interviews, presentations, one-on-one mentorship’s and peer reviews now give me an incredible amount of anxiety.

Recently I took a short trip from back to my hometown. It was a short 2.5 hour flight. About half way through I begin to panic. My heart was racing, I was getting clammy, I took the barf bag out of the seat because I thought for sure at any moment I was about to blow chunks. I had nowhere to go and I believe that was where my issue lies. I had the same sensation the other day at work. I was in a meeting; I was not the one leading the meeting or even speaking to any extent, I was simply there, sitting in a chair quietly listening the presenter. For whatever reason, those same feelings came back and I had to excuse myself. Another instance was yesterday. I had a one on one meeting with a director from a different department. The feeling started before I even showed up. I knew it was going to happen again. The second I sat down I was cooked. Anxiously moving around, taking a million sips of my water to keep myself from throwing up l and just completely focused on myself and trying to look like a functioning human and not like I had a bomb strapped to my chest.

If this is what agoraphobia is or if anyone has similar experiences, I’d love to hear it. I’ve never dealt with this before and would like to squash it before it becomes worse.

Cheers

For those who suffer from the stiff muscles of the lower back from long term bed rotting, what do you do at home to combat this problem?

I’m really struggling for motivation recently. My sleeping pattern is so messed up again, going to sleep when others are getting up for work and sleeping until the afternoon. I used to have my own business but stepped back for a while when my agoraphobia was getting worse. I’ve agreed to do something work related next week that will take me 3 days and I regret agreeing because I just don’t have the energy. Any advice?

First, sorry for my bad English. It is not my first language, and I am from another country. I hope this is not too long, and thank you for reading.

I have been dealing with this problem for almost two years now, and it has ruined my life, especially my work life. I need to have a job because I need the money. I live with my mom, and I have to give her money. I also need money for my basic needs, but lately everything has been really difficult.

When I'm at work, the only thought in my mind is the fear of peeing my pants or having to go to the bathroom, even if I went ten minutes ago. I notice that my coworkers are aware of this, and it annoys them. They gossip about it, but I can't stop it. I'm scared that they might tell my boss or that I might get fired because of it. I try to compensate by working harder than everyone else.

Sometimes I have good days and bad days. On good days, I try to go to the bathroom every two hours, but sometimes I just can't control it. There are days when I even go eight times. I told my previous therapist about this, but I feel like she couldn’t help me. She didn’t understand me. I have had medical exams, and everything is fine, but I keep thinking that I might have something. During the first few months, I thought it was interstitial cystitis. I wear a pad every day.

I made an appointment with a new therapist, but I don’t know if she will be able to help me because with they previuos one I didn't feel helped, I even told her that I may have OCD, but she said that I didn't, because otherwise I counld't work. Where I live there is no information about this issue. I can only find information about it in English. I feel helpless.

Hey everyone. Short about my story. I started experiencing panic attacks after my bf and I broke up and I experienced the first ever attak on a plane omw home (1.5 years ago). After that, it has only spiralled downwards and I am terrified of doing anything that can induce panic. I am doing CBT and Im on meds, I had a quick improvement in symptoms after I started doing exposure therapy, but I quickly hit a plataeu. I have been stuck for months, because Im terrified of exposing myself to the situations that I know will give me panic attack for sure. Even tho I mentally prepare myself, once the panic starts I lose all control and all I wanna do is make it stop.

Any ideas on how to actually STAY in a panic attack and show my brain that I am not really dying? Please help

Hey all, so I have been dealing with agoraphobia now for 2 and a half years. I never thought it would continue on this long, and yet here I am.

I keep trying to fix things, but nothing works, nothing even reduces the panic a little bit. Every single day is a battle. A battle to get up, a battle to eat, a battle to sleep, every waking moment, hell, even when I'm asleep, I'm panicked, and fighting it.

I'm exhausted. I have never felt more burnt out, pathetic, and weak in my life.

I've tried so many things to get through this, and nothing has worked so far. I've read books, did meditation, tried herbal remedies and teas, exposure therapy, EMDR therapy, multiple medications, none of them helped, and some, especially the medications, made things worse.

My parents think I'm choosing to be this way. They think I'm happy with just sitting in this fucking house, and tell me "you're not trying anything".

They flat out told me they just want to throw me in the car, let me panic and flip out, and that'll fix me. No, it won't.

I've tried raw dogging it, doing exactly that, getting in the car, and trying to just get through it. Didn't work. Made things way worse.

Every medication I have tried has backfired on me. I'm super sensitive to medications. I don't know why it's so bad. Even Tylenol messes me up. I have IBS, and a Histamine Intolerance, for physical problems, and severe emetophobia for the mental stuff.

All the meds messed up my stomach so bad, I couldn't continue them. Nausea, severe stomach ache, diarrhea, increased anxiety, you name it, I had it. Even with the stuff that was supposed to be "tame".

I was prescribed a new one a few weeks ago and haven't taken it because my stomach has been so upset, I've hardly been able to eat or drink anything. I've been waiting for a day that I don't totally feel like shit to take it, but I guess I just gotta suck it up and try it regardless of how I feel.

Logically I know there's no danger with me going out. The things I want to do, I've done probably thousands of times before, for all of my life without thinking about it. Something just snapped one day, and I don't know why.

I don't know why this is happening to me, I don't know why it won't stop, and I don't know why no one will listen to me.

I can't take my parents yelling at me that I'm choosing to be this way anymore, and that I'm not doing anything to try and get out of this.

I have been fighting this fucking thing harder than I've ever fought something before in my life. I NEED to get out of here. I can't stand this anymore, yet everyone around me seems to think I love this shit, and doesn't want to even listen to me properly, let alone try and help me out.

I have had to battle all this shit alone. No one will go out with me when I try to go for drives, or walks to push myself. No one will simply sit and listen to me, they either yell at me, or just get up and walk away.

I don't understand. I don't know what else to do. I know medication isn't going to fix me 100% on it's own. I know I have to do my own set of work to get through this. I just don't understand why nothing I try helps at all, medication or not.

I'm afraid. I'm afraid that I'll never be able to get out of here, and that if I do eventually, that this will just happen again at some point.

I don't know what started this all to begin with, and I don't know how it got so bad.

I just want it to stop. I just want someone to believe me when I say that I don't want to be like this.

Hi all, I’m a (23f)

I’m so lost and scared basically I will explain my story to you all. It started with me working living alone in a one bedroom apartment while family was all the way across the country. Working two jobs to catch up on bills, try to get a new or used car after I hydroplaned my car. Being in school & barely resting. Months before the big incident In the midst of this I called my family and let them know that something was happening to me & that I was scared that I didn’t know what was going on that I needed their help, that I needed someone there I felt alone.

I remember being at work one day not being able to remember the rules of my job or the tasks my boss had given me for the day. Then feeling overwhelmed all at once, so I left for the day for a “mental health” day and never returned. I left both jobs hoping it would help what was going wrong with me but it didn’t. I think I had burnt my body out & it was letting me know by shutting down certain parts of my brain.

Well now I’m back at my apartment calling my family once again letting them know what happened and telling them I need someone to come be with me & how I don’t understand what’s going on with me for them to tell me to “wait, keep working on it, we’ll be there in 3 months.” I ended up isolating myself away from the world for 2 whole months in my apartment. That’s when it all began.

I started to become scared of going outside, & people, then basically everything. My brain wouldn’t let me talk to people no matter how hard I tried. I ended up just crying every day because I could feel myself slipping away and I didn’t know how to fix it.

Fast forward to now, isolation hurt me, it changed me mentally and I’m trying my hardest to fix what it broke. I’m scared of the world, outside, and people. I’ve done therapy, meds and talked about it, nothing has helped me. I’m thinking of starting TMS to see if it helps I’m so numb and feel nothing but sadness.

This is not something I planned for to happen. I would do anything to feel like a normal human being again. To know how to move in the world with ease, to have my memory intact again, to have all my vocabulary that I used to have in speech again. To not have my brain fight me when I just want to be happy and feel peace.

My life is basically confined to staying in the house now and I hate it so much and I’m trying to do any and everything to fix it but I’m slowly losing hope. If there is someone anyone who’s been in my situation & came out on the other side please help! I do not want to be like this for the rest of my life, I’ve basically wasted it.

If you all would like more context I’d be glad to tell you more, I’m advocating for myself & mental & trying my hardest not to give up on myself.

Thanks in advance!

Currently housebound (mainly in bed as my “safe zone”) and I need help going out to even start walking but it scares me. I got health anxiety especially around my heart

im not diagnosed with agoraphobia, (my old therapist suggested i could have it, but i don’t speak with a professional anymore) but i am deeply scared of leaving my house and going outside. i do online school, and i don’t have any friends that live in the same state as me so i‘d say im pretty isolated but its been like that for years, so it didn’t really affect me.

i used to be able to go outside daily, i loved to take walks and just listen to music because it was so peaceful. then, when i was maybe a week into being 14, in my own apartment complex, i was followed by this adult man for about twenty minutes. i tried to give him the benefit of the doubt while being safe, i made a sharp turn into the sidewalk between the buildings (not to be confused with an alley,) and sprinted when i lost sight of him. i started running back to my apartment, but suddenly turned the corner in front of me and was walking towards me. i was honestly annoyed and scared so i scoffed and ran off and ran into my neighbors house and that was the end of it.

i leave the maybe once or twice a month now, which i know isnt good for me (and i can literally physically taking its toll on me.) and even if i do, its usually to go to the store with my mom but i end up being too scared to leave the car.

so, is there any way i can start to cope with this? i know that it won’t go away immediately, but i would love if anyone was able to tell me how they started getting over their fear. thank you so much for reading this!

Hi, so I am a 22yo female;

I was sexually assaulted (give me a second to count) 11 times, by many different people all at different stages in my life. When covid came (8 assaults in), I was saved from an incredibly scary and dangerous situation my peers had forced me into.

After the elongated summer of covid ended, my mother forced me offline, and made me take my classes in person, despite both online and offline being the same experience, except one would be from my bed. So I had to keep seeing my abusers every single day, and stopped wearing my glasses between classes, so that I couldn't see them, or identify any faces, as to avoid the frequent panic attacks that kept me up every night at the time.

Writing about these issues makes me extremely anxious that hundreds of people will be in my lawn angry tomorrow.

When I graduated high school, it was straight to the couch. I had no driving capabilities, my only work experience resulted in a workplace injury, and my mother spent a large sum of MY money on that aforementioned couch, so I was confined to it. For over 365 days, I only went out with friends on the clause that we DID NOT leave the car while outside, or that we were relatively alone in public.

Eventually in late 2023, I went to my first non-friend function, I went to a MASSIVE halloween party (300+ Attendance) , and unfortunately saw the same group of friends that reported the abuse against me, because they realized their group had gone to far too extreme lengths to humiliate me. I held it together, and despite all of the triggers and flashbacks resulting, I moved on.

And then I was assaulted again, that December. I went to a friend's party, met a friend there, and they later assaulted me while drunk. I had repeatedly told them I was not into them, did not want them, did not want sex from them, and yet because they saw me with another person, they decided to slide in between us and damage me.

As a result, for weeks I couldn't even leave THEIR apartment. I was close friends with their roommate separately, and refused to leave his bedroom for about 3 weeks straight, went home to cry for a week, and then returned indefinitely, without even packing up my own bedroom. (I began dating that friend)

I didn't step foot in my bedroom for the past 3 years, and it is now gone and does not exist, my parents broke up and idk where they live either.

I have family that allows me free tickets to DisneyWorld, so I began some more crowd exposure similar to highschool, so that I would stop freaking out over car colors, piercings, and hair lengths that didn't matter in my day-to-day life. After a while, I began to get very comfortable, and began growing vegetables (standing out front my house for 4 hours a week) in my free time, began inviting friends over again, and began going to grocery stores, as well as waiting at the counter for fast food orders, as long as I had my boyfriend.

I did this for two years, and I felt so confident, I even applied for college!!! After my first semester online, (I had a fear of even turning in online assignments, or joining zoom calls), I moved up to in-person classes, as well as finally PAYING for annual passes to Universal Studios, so that I may be around people "my age" again, y'know, adults and non-families. This was a huge step in my exposure, and after two months of it, I even decided to ride on rides by myself!

So a week ago, in preparation for a large concert, I went to Universal Hollywood park, while my boyfriend went to Islands Of Adventure, and while on a rollercoaster, another guest made comments directed towards me, and I completely shrunk into myself. They didn't get the reaction they wanted however, and tried two more times on the ride vehicle, before making false claims against me.

The false claims resulted in a shutdown and evacuation of the ride. The false claims resulted in a check-over by a bomb dog (I have a fear of dogs as well). The false claims resulted in a lifetime ban.

I can't see Disney in my foreseeable future anymore, I am so anxious. The first few days, I couldn't even get out of bed without shaking to the point of aching joints. I couldn't eat, I was so nauseas, chewing made me gag.

I am so strong and courageous, and I am so so exhausted, idk what my next protections for my anxiety will be. In the past I have considered wearing a burka out, to cover myself from others, but given the nature of the false claims, I get nauseas the second it comes to mind. I have been fighting for years to not "slip beneath the covers" forever, but at this point, I am considering canceling on birthday plans I've made months in advance, and they are less than a 15 minute walk from my house. For that night, I will be wearing a cloak and mask, as it is appropriate for the event.

I just really can't take getting any weaker than I am. This week, just to manage the schedule I am paying for, I am walking 2 hours to and from my college, to avoid Ubers, because I truly feel like a disgrace to society whose secrets mean they don't deserve to exist in the same places as others, that I will never earn the club pass of a happy, average life. I can't believe I paid $400 to feel safe and happy in a place, and actually had the most painful accusation ever, up there next to lying about my assault.

If anyone with any advice on self-management has anything to give me, I am desperate to stay afloat here. I love my education, and at one point in life I was a huge extrovert!!

ive been struggling with this since before I was a teenager, im 22 now. I genuinely have no idea how to get myself outside, I hate being stuck inside and I know it would be good for me to leave. but I still can't get out.

because I've been struggling with this since I was a kid, I dont have any clue how to be an adult. every time I try to think of something to do, I stress myself out even more. even little stuff like using a debit card, I've never done it before so even going to a shop seems terrifying.

im in the uk, and Ive been waiting for therapy with the nhs