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View Full Version : Am I the only one who is virtually housebound?



xBettyBoopx
05-07-09, 04:52
I read the posts & try and help as much as possible, but everyone seems to go out quite a bit although suffering with anxiety etc.

I only go to the local shops once a week & lately it has been a nightmare!

Am I the only one on this site who is virtually housebound?

Els

gypsywomen
05-07-09, 08:15
no your not,, when i fisst startedwith this 2 years ago ,i didnt get out of bed for 3 months ,,but you have to make yourself go out ,,or what kind of life would we have,,its scary when we go out,,but just take deep breaths and say i can do this ,, while your out count from 100 backwards it helps:hugs:

sb001f8994
05-07-09, 08:20
Hi Elspeth,
Im virtually housebound too and you do more than me! I can get out of my road in the car and go round the busy round-a-about and come home...this is a good day for me. Ive been into my local suppermarket a few times and also managed being in the pub for 20 mins but that was a while ago. It gets very frustrating and I just cant get the motivation to do anything about it. I also think Im in a rut as Im so used to staying in now. Ive been agoraphobic off and on for over 30 years, happily mostly off but these past few years have been particularly bad.
I try to stay positive and be happy for my family but sometimes I just get stir crazy!
Warmest wishes,
Carol

Alabasterlyn
05-07-09, 08:57
No you certainly aren't the only one Elseph. I have been pretty much housebound for over 30yrs on and off. I had a period of about 7yrs when I couldn't get further than the post box and that was very depressing.

Now I can get out more but I would say in an average week all I am doing is going into town once a week late night shopping as I can't handle the town centre when it's busy. Once a week I go to my local Tesco Express to top up on groceries and I can walk to the local shops when I am feeling okay in my head, if that makes any sense.

Apart from that I can honestly say I just stay in. I would love to go to the pub, a social club or yoga classes, just anything to be able to get out more, but of course I worry that I would get anxious and want to come home. I also don't have anyone other than my other half who I trust to go out with, so that is very limiting too.

mick_uk
05-07-09, 09:16
No, not at all Elspeth,
I'm similar to carol, mine seems to have returned with a vengeance the last year or so. Came back for no apparent reason out of the blue and completely changed everything I did from work to family life to social life.
It's such a frustrating illness with no single 'cure' as such.
pfffffft

take care

mick

Deepest Blue
05-07-09, 10:15
Els:hugs:

I think maybe a lot of the time it's because a lot of us "have" to go outside for one reason or another, in my case I live alone so I pretty much have to do everything alone like shopping and of course I've got a job so I have to get out. I wished it got better but it's been a huge struggle for me.

mick_uk
05-07-09, 12:45
It's so easy now to avoid going out with online shopping etc. So easy to get into the habit of getting around a problem wothout facing it. Without my car I'd be in trouble though.
Biggest problem for me is work. I'm lucking at the moment to be able to work from home, but It's not the answer in the long term.

bumble18
05-07-09, 19:50
its not just you love, i havnt left my house in 2 years!

maybeoneday
05-07-09, 21:27
hi im new on here, trying to work the site out , i too am part housebound, can go out somedays in the car,
short trips.
i cant work and i was wondering if anyone new of any financial help out there?

spaced
05-07-09, 22:18
Elspeth your not alone lots of people here are virtually housebound, I was once. I could manage the 5min walk to take my daughter to school but some days I couldn't manage that it was actually more like 15mins but I'd be walking as fast as I could. I couldn't get to the supermarket I'd have to go when it just opened and was quiet I'd still be a wreck and just manage to get what I could some days it would be too much I think I could only do that as I had to feed my child. I couldn't cope with a ten min bus ride and didn't go into my own garden for 4 years I also kept the curtains on the house closed.
Now Els things are very different I'm out most days I go where I want when I want supermarket, shopping centers, night clubs, pubs, I like to take my daughter out for the day to the zoo, sea side, theme parks I don't drive so I have to book coach trips. I'm taking her to see Mcfly at the end of the month and to the sea side in August we'll be doing a few other things as well. The gardens no longer a jungle and now has plants in stead of weeds and my daughter loves to jump on the trampoline and okay I admit it I like jumping around on it too.
So why am I waffling on what I'm trying to say is that things get better and you Elspeth can get better too I did, not easy I know but it can be done.
Take care

maybeoneday
06-07-09, 10:38
hi spaced, and elspeth

nice to hear of someone thats conquered this terrible illness.
i have 3 older children but also have a boy of 12 who hasnt been out with his mum for over 3 yrs, would love to know how youve conquered this, so i could take him to the seaside etc for the day.
my anxiety seems to be worse middle of month around 12-14 days.

denise xx

belle
06-07-09, 12:25
At least you can get to the shops, i can't!

bottleblond
06-07-09, 15:44
I am the same, i'm limited to a very small outside space. My local shop but i even have to do that in stages. The hardest part is when i can no longer see my house. That is when i need to stop and gain some control before carrying on with the other part of the walk. It literaly is only about a five minute walk from my house (if that) and it is a huge struggle.

Lisa

Alabasterlyn
06-07-09, 16:53
I am the same, i'm limited to a very small outside space. My local shop but i even have to do that in stages. The hardest part is when i can no longer see my house. That is when i need to stop and gain some control before carrying on with the other part of the walk. It literaly is only about a five minute walk from my house (if that) and it is a huge struggle.

Lisa

Lisa I am like that, as soon as I can't see my house I start to get anxious. My local shops are only about a 3 minute walk but they are around the corner and the road they are on is very busy. I am okay going there with my partner, but on my own, well I only go when I am feeling confident that I can get there and back!

bottleblond
06-07-09, 17:00
Exact same as me Lyn, the minute i get to that corner and the house is out of view, that's when i start to get anxious. That final stretch is a nightmare but i manage is most of the time. It's bloomin horrible considering i used to be able to walk for miles!!

Love Lisa
xxx

xBettyBoopx
06-07-09, 20:15
Thanks for your replies.

Belle - I'm sorry you can't get to the shops, but you didn't have to answer like that, did you? I asked a question, I didn't make a statement, this isn't a competition about who is the worse off!!

Bumble - I'm so sorry you haven't left your house for 2 years.

There was also someone else (can't remember the name sorry) who said that I do more than them. Again this isn't some sort of backward competition & I feel that I have been misunderstood with my question.

Deepest blue - I too live alone & yes I have to go to local shops for food etc, although last week I felt so bad I tried to shop online at Tesco, that didn't work (I did a post on it), but you go to work. I used to work until 4 years ago, I didn't go out socially, all I did was go to work & come home, stayed in every night & weekend, but I wouldn't have classed myself as agoraphobic then.

Thanks again for all the replies, I'm going to close the thread because I feel that I have been slightly misunderstood by some. My anxiety is sky high & I don't want to feel any worse, neither do I want anyone to feel worse!!

I try my hardest to help others, as I've had this damn anxiety for 34 years. I have this site open about 10 hours a day & especially early hours of the morning when I know that people living alone can feel at their worst & I try to reassure them that they will be ok, even when I'm feeling so bad too. I suppose I'm being over sensitive because I'm so friggin anxious but I feel like maybe I should leave for a while, maybe I spend too much time on here!!

Els