help/reassurance needed

[trigrodge]

hi all,
i feel im in need of some advice, having suffered from anxiety/panic attacks for the last 7-8 years mainly when im driving or going away from home, my comfort zone is about 3-4 miles from my house.
what i used to do is drive to a place where i started to feel slightly anxious and just stay there then i would go a bit further next time, until about 3 months ago when my car broke down. and didnt have the funds to get it fixed.
i have recently bought a new car and am determined to beat this now, about a week ago a collegue asked if i wanted to join him clay pigeon shooting which is right at the edge of my comfort zone so i said yes.
upon arrival at the ground i was ok until i stepped into the shop when i came over all nervous so i said to the guy i was with that i have to go, i ran to my car and started to drive fairly quickly towards home all the time panicing more and more, i got halfway home and pulled over calmed myself down and turned around and went back where i had an enjoyable couple of hours.
so this week i commenced my driving to my normal layby when i got there i thought i could go a little further so i did i started getting nervous again so pulled over in a driveway a bit further up the road when i had a sudden panic attack and urge to get home so i drove again quickly towards home but this time the panic got worst as i continued to drive as did my driving i got home and finally calmed down.
the next evening came and i decided to try again this time i was nervous just getting in the car but decided to go anyway, i barely got 1 mile up the road before i started to panic this has gone on the last 3 nights.
now i dont know what to do, i dont want to end up not being able to go out at all but i also dont want to hide from it so does it matter how far i get? if i keep giving myself a panic attack will it just eventually go or will i make things worst, sorry about the long winded story just want to get as much detail as i can.
kindest regards
leigh

[Annie0904]

You are doing really well to go out in the car when you feel anxious and I am sure you will start to be able to cope with it better soon, just take little steps. Don't push yourself too far out of your comfort zone until you can cope with it. You are doing really well just to attempt it :)

[kimberlyrector]

I also suffer from some agoraphobia and for the last 2 weeks I have been struggling with driving into town. It seems silly for us to get out, turn around to come back, turn around and go back and try to make it a little farther every time but ya know what? That is the way we overcome! Don't be upset if you have some days and here and there when you can't go, I do all the time. But after 2 weeks I made it all the way in to town after repetitive trying but I got in the car today and tried again and ended up coming back home. It's the exposure that is good for us. We have to keep trying until we no longer fear it anymore. Don't give up you are doing just fine. And yes we do tend to throw ourselves in attacks when we are uncomfortable in situations...but in putting ourselves in them over and over we will eventually stop being afraid. Good Luck and Good Job:yesyes: