Agoraphobia....Tips needed please!!

[Godzilla]

Hi all

Ok, I can travel around 10 mile radius in my car. This time last year it was around 40 miles but I had a terrible panic attack in August last year which has really put me back. I am going out everyday to tackle it going that bit further by a few miles but the sensations are horrible and I really don't want to relapse again like in August as I have suffered from Agoraphobia/Anxiety for over 10 years now. All I want to do is be able to have a normal life so I can enjoy it and be able to take my 12 year old daughter on holiday before its to late as when she is 18 she is not going to want to go on holiday with her old Dad! I get so far when I am driving then get a huge urge to return home. Playing music hurts my ears as I become over sensitive when I get the urge to return home, I really am stuck here. Anyone got over it....Any suggestions? I am also on 40mg Citalopram a day, 20mg Diazepam a day and 0.5 Clonazepam a day.

Any help at all would be fantastic!!

Oh.... I have also had CBT, Pyscotherapy and read loads of books on Anxiety....still no joy.

[boppers]

Godzilla, I was there last year and I promise you that you can get through this. I was terrified of driving myself to work and my boyfriend had to drive me, but today I drove 100 miles by myself in a bad thunderstorm.

I think what you are doing by driving a bit further each day is great. My car also has Bluetooth connections to my cell and I would call a friend (hands free) and just chat with them while driving to distract myself a bit. A few times I got so scared I sang songs to myself. My therapist also suggested that I play mind games with myself in the car. Here are some that have helped:

1) Counting backwards by 3.5.
2) Listing all the US States
3) Looking for something that starts with A (audi car, apple tree), then something that starts with B (Barn, billboard) and going through the alphabet.

The more you do this, the easier it will get! I'm wishing you luck. :)

[Godzilla]

Godzilla, I was there last year and I promise you that you can get through this. I was terrified of driving myself to work and my boyfriend had to drive me, but today I drove 100 miles by myself in a bad thunderstorm.

I think what you are doing by driving a bit further each day is great. My car also has Bluetooth connections to my cell and I would call a friend (hands free) and just chat with them while driving to distract myself a bit. A few times I got so scared I sang songs to myself. My therapist also suggested that I play mind games with myself in the car. Here are some that have helped:

1) Counting backwards by 3.5.
2) Listing all the US States
3) Looking for something that starts with A (audi car, apple tree), then something that starts with B (Barn, billboard) and going through the alphabet.

The more you do this, the easier it will get! I'm wishing you luck. :)

Thank you so much. So good to know of a success story as it gives me great hope :hugs:

[harasgenster]

Hi
You're doing the right thing by going a bit further everyday. Even once I'd started going outside regularly I would still get panic attacks when I did so. I don't drive so it was easier for me to take a break if I was having a panic attack, it must be really scary in a car! But you can still get over it.

Best tip I've got for when you feel a panic attack coming on is to find a mantra that helps you. I found it helpful to repeat the words "I am in no danger" in my head and really focus on them. In reality, you are not in any danger, but your body thinks you are, which is why you're having panic attacks. So I felt it helped to just keep reminding myself over and over and over.

I know the sensations are awful but the more often you go out, the easier it'll get. We all get relapses and they can be disappointing but they're not an indication you won't get better, so keep trying :)

Take care

[Idstain]

Hi Godzilla,

I am on my phone right now so cant link you but please please check out mindfulness meditation on YouTube. There is a talk by a man called Jon kabat Zinn at google and it is a wonderful introduction to mindfulness.

The simple fact is that suffering is overcome only by acceptance (have you ever heard of anyone overcoming anxiety or depression by fighting it? I haven't). Claire weekes hit the nail on the head all those years ago with her books, the only trouble I found with them was that they didn't really show you "how" to accept. Mindfulness is that "how".

I can honestly say finding mindfulness is one of the best things that has ever happened to me and I am sure it would be a massive benefit to you too idlf you give it the chance.

Good luck :)

[blueangel]

I've found mindfulness really helpful for anxiety at all, so I'd join in with Idstain's recommendation here.

As for the agoraphobia, it really is worth pushing yourself. My partner's mother has agoraphobia and now very rarely leaves the village she lives in. Her and my partner's dad are very comfortably off in retirement and both in good health, so they ought to be doing all sorts of things, but she spends nearly all of her days indoors on the computer. It's such a waste.