AGORAPHOBIA - what do others think please

[trac67]

Ok, I would like others points of view on this if possible

I am classed as being agoraphobic, but tonight have been told because I do leave the house then im not agoraphobic

I can leave the house to get in a car and be driven to say a friends house, with all the usual anxiety feelings, but only with someone I feel safe with, and the whole time I am out of the house I cannot fully relax because I am away from my comfort zone, i.e my house.

I cannot walk down the street, I cannot go into shops at the minute, and even a trip to the doctors surgery is a huge ordeal, the whole time I am jittery, light headed, blurred vision, you know all the fun symptoms we get

So because I can leave the house, say once every few weeks, does this mean I am a fraud and im not agoraphobic, the whole idea of being outside totally freaks me at the minute, but I do try and make an effort to get out.

Your thoughts would really be appreciated because I am now totally confused as to wether I am an agoraphobic or not after tonight

Thanks

Love

Trac xxxxx

[joelhall]

sounds exactly like my agoraphobia. i can only go out with someone i trust but its still very hard and i panic the whole time

[Lozzie]

sounds exactly how i am trac!
i can only go out in peoples cars if they are people i trust and even then i panic the whole time im away from my house.
even a 10min car journey to my mums house can freak me out and even while im at my mums house (where i grew up and lived for most of my life) i feel really ill and panicky til i know im going home.
strange how i only feel safe in a house iv lived less time in then my mums

i get really panicky just thinking about going to the shop which is 5min walk away! if that! and normally bottle out of going cos i just cant do it

i have had people question my agoraphobia before and it made me feel so small and pathetic but it is a constant battle to go out and i barely go out at the mo and when i do go out its just full of me having panic attacks and wanting to come home as soon as possible
i dont want to be like this, i hate it and for anyone who questions me about it (generally my family do) or makes me feel like crap cos i cant do things they find easy then sod them!! they dont know what it feels like! and if they did then they wouldnt be so quick to judge!

you are not a fraud trac because if u were then we all would be frauds!
laura xxxxxxxx

[trac67]

Joel and Laura,

Thankyou both for your input, if we make an effort to aid our recovery by leaving the house even if we are panic stricken the whole time, that doesn't make us recovered and stop us being classed as agoraphobic in my eyes, I always class myself as having a battle with agoraphobia because I am trying to fight it.

I thought agoraphobia was a fear of the outside, and im bloody sh*t scared of the outside world at the minute, so that makes me agoraphobic doesn't it ?????

Trac xxxx

[kate]

Agorophobia always used to be defined as fear of open spaces. Nowadays it is more commonly defined as fear of being in a place where there is no easy escape from ie being in a crowd, standing in the supermarket queue etc.

I think anyone that panics when leaving the house IS agorophobic. I would class myself as being so even though I regularly go out I'm always anxious and avoid a lot of things

Kate

[trac67]

Thanks Kate

Love


Trac xxxx

[belle]

Hi..

When i recently done the Daily Mirror article talking about my agoraphobia, i heard that the people who go into the pub where i work were saying that it was all "Bulls**t" and that i was talking "crap". They said "How can she be agor-whatever it is if she works here?". All i could say in response to them is that they don't have any idea how difficult it is GETTING TO WORK. How my mother has to pick me up and take me, how i can't leave the house alone, AT ALL, how to walk round the town is bloody awful and just to get my son to school which is 2 minutes walk away is a MASSIVE ordeal!

No one knows how dibilatiing this illness is. NO ONE understands the effect of agoraphobia if they don't experience it themselves.

Sorry, off soap-box now.

x

[trac67]

Thanks Bluebell,

I totally agree with you that it is a very dibilitating illness, and I would love to be able to open the front door and just walk out without a care in the world, and not get worked up about it for a few hours before hand and then feel like total crap the whole time that I am out.

Thankyou

Love

Trac xxx

[Piglet]

I do class myself as agroraphobic most definately, due to GAD and panic attacks - like Kate says the definition for me is more about being trapped in situations or places that are not easy to get out of.

While I can manage to get out if I have someone with me I don't seem to be able to do it alone. Like anything Trac I suppose there are degrees of severity arn't there. Over the last 8 years I have had various levels of it - the trouble is even on the lightest level it does affect your life doesn't it and you begin to avoid situations that you fear.

I am a work in progress really lol!!!

Love Piglet

[trac67]

Thanks Piglet,

I think when you suffer with agoraphobia, we will always be 'a work in progress' I always tell people im battling with agoraphobia, sometimes I win, sometimes the agoraphobia wins.

What I am trying to find out by doing this is, to be classed as an agoraphobic do you have to be housebound 24/7, 365 days a year ? Some people have agoraphobic tendencies, where they feel uncomfortable out of their comfort zone, but it does not stop them from leading a 'normal' life, where as mine does stop me from doing the 'normal' things, like leaving the house alone, walking down the street, going into shops ........... or to put it in a nutshell, enjoy a life outside of my home enviroment.

I really appreciate all your thoughts on this

Love

Trac xxx