HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

stucked at home with agoraphobia... boring!

Support Forums
>
Anxiety & Panic Disorders
✚ New Topic locked
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 7/11/2007 4:27 PM (GMT 0)
hi.

this is only my second post but I have a good feeling about this message board so I wanted to share something. I deal with anxiety issues and I have the pleasure devil to also have severe agoraphobia. I dont go out of my home when there is nobody at home (that I can call) further than... the store at the corner of the street. So I go out in the evening but when my boyfriend is working (9 to 5) I am stuck here.
I am looking for a work at home, I am beginning a new medication treatment and therapy but in the meantime I am stuck here with nothing to do.
I had less severe agoraphobia in the past but some stressful events in my life have precipitated this severe state I am in. I have already been there and I know this is only temporary but for the moment... I just hate it! When I think most people dont have enough time in their life...

So I try to do something with my life... I read, I cook, I write, I go to forums, I educate myself (I want to return to school when I am recover), I talk to friends on the phone, I listen to music, films, radio, I clean the house, I read self help books, I go out to the store at the corner of the street... And to add to all this I live in a small one bedroom appartement so I dont have much space for myself!

What can you do at home? I hear that some people have been lock in their home for months or years? It has only been some weeks and I am totally bored.
Posted 7/11/2007 5:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Jen! I too have been battling with agoraphobia for several months now. In the past couple weeks, I have been making some moves in the right direction of improvement. Read some of my posts, and you will see, I took baby steps, and now I am starting to do more and journey about more.

Are you on any meds or are you getting help for this? I just started taking Lexapro and I have Xanax...for now, that is going away soon.

The things you are doing at home are the best things you could be doing. You are doing exactly what I do, and that is it. Thank goodness for the computer, cuz I have spent a lot of time on here, learning, and looking at other peoples stories. That, along with tv and books, and writing, and cleaning, and all the things you mentioned, well, that is about all there is to do in home.

I have the cleanest home in America!!!

You are better than me, because I have issues talking on the phone. FOr some reason, I hate talking on the phone...whcih sucks, cuz I use to be such a phone person, especially cuz I was in telemarketing for a few years!! Now, when the phone rings, I ignore it. It sucks.

You are right, it does get boring.

So, I don't have any answers to your question. I guess I just wanted you to see that you are not alone. And, you can and will get better. I am srue of it!

By the way, welcome to HEaling well. You will find that it is a wonderful place to be!

Good luck to you in your recovery...and if you find any other creative things to do at home, let me know!!
Posted 7/11/2007 6:16 PM (GMT 0)

i too am suffering with agoraphobia and the only time i will leave the house is if someone is with me to leave with. so i'm pretty much here in the house all the time. i do occasionally go out in the back yard but its pretty issolated.

i unfortunately dont clean or cook ,much. but i do have hobbies that keep me busy. i have even found a few new ones recently to occupy the time and my mind. i still get bored every now and a again. and thats usually when i clean. (not much into cleaning. or much of a "house wife) beeb battling it this time around since march. and i've gone longer with it before. but like i said i have hobbies to do that i enjoy and keep me pretty entertained and busy.

then theres always the computer. i'll get on here or go searching other places. sometimes for things related to my illnesses others to my hobbies. i'm also helping my aunt right now get some things ready for school. stuff i can do on the computer and internet. so i keep busy. but i guess i'm just used to being this way and how to deal with it.

i'm also an only child, so being alone doesnt really faze me much. my husband works, so when hes off hes here and my mom stops by almost everyday and checks on me. so not much room for loneliness. which is good cause i too hate to be on the phone with any one besides my mom or my husband. i wont call anyone but them.  this is getting really longer then i meant it to.

good luck. just got to find a couple of hobbies like crocheting or knitting or scrapbooking that kind of thing to help you pass the time. is my advice. as thats what i do.

Posted 7/12/2007 2:10 PM (GMT 0)
I believe the best way to combat this is with BABY steps as posted above

I had to do it and I did it finally for my daughter and myself

I am hardly home now mostly out with my dad or friends trying to keep mind off of being sick
Not sitting at home anymore dwelling on all that is wrong with me

I hope you can do some baby steps and take some advice and the support from others posting .......

Good Luck and keep us in the loop

LYN
Posted 7/12/2007 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
Progress usually does come incrementally but you may want to try and read some CBT books and start doing the exercises in your home. CBT is one of the most effective therapies for anxiety, panic and agoraphobia as well as depression and OCD. The books by Sam Obitz, David Burns and Claire Weekes are all very good and may be just what you need to get yourself feeling better and out of the house again. Be patient with yourself and I think the thought countering exercises then adding in some exposure techniques once you are feeling more confident in your thinking will help you.
Posted 7/12/2007 8:43 PM (GMT 0)
Helo, this is Kitt and welcome to our forum, we are glad to have you with us.
I had a short spell of "not wanting to leave home" but it was more depression and anxiety. I worked at it and now I am able to say I actually took a road trip on my own even thow I was scared to death yesterday morning when it was time to get on the freeway.............but I made it. You will too. I blieve the others here gave you great advice.
Stay with us and keep posting.
(((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))
Posted 7/16/2007 5:48 AM (GMT 0)
Speaking as an recovered agoraphobe I absolutely LOVE the positive affirmation you give yourself when you say "when I am recovered". I belive in positive visualization and the power of a positive attitude. I don't have any magic words for you. For me it was just not surrendering to the fear. I made myself go outside everyday, made myself go to work, made myself live my life. If the people at work only knew!!! I also worked for an abusive tyrant. He would absolutely shriek at people, his face would swell up and turn all read and his veins would pop out. One day I stood up to him. What a fabulous day. It was a long road to recovery but 8 years after it first started I was pregnant with my second child. I was laying down to take a nap at home and realized that it had been a long time since I had struggled with agoraphobia and that I was completely content.

Keep working at it, you can beat it. I just know you can because you have such a positive attitude and outlook!
Posted 7/30/2007 6:26 PM (GMT 0)

stronglady4me said...
Speaking as an recovered agoraphobe I absolutely LOVE the positive affirmation you give yourself when you say "when I am recovered".
Keep working at it, you can beat it. I just know you can because you have such a positive attitude and outlook!

I agree yeah
Posted 7/30/2007 10:56 PM (GMT 0)
I am a recovering Agoraphobic and at times it is hard but worth the hard work of babystepping and trusting myself. When I was homebound for 3 years I too had a very clean house and got into craft work as well. Don't give up...you will get out of this and get your life back. It's a full time job in my opinion one that I will have all of my life as PD and Agoraphobia are a part of me, but I am winning and the disorder isn't!
Good luck and keep reaching out!
Eveie
Posted 8/5/2007 5:44 PM (GMT 0)
thank you for all those replies!

I think the best thing is that I now feel less alone. Even at the support group I go to in my city I sometimes feel alone because I have severe agoraphobia and many people there have social phobia (it is a mixed group) or only moderate agoraphobia. Without my boyfriend I would be almost totally housebound. When "normal" people hear about agoraphobia they ususally look at me like I am some kind of freak. It seems that people understand depression but agoraphobia is somehow still unknown to many people.
Posted 8/5/2007 10:19 PM (GMT 0)
yeah, i know what you mean. I think that as time goes on more and more of our illness will be exposed in a better light. So many people suffer from the same things, they are just scared to talk about it. It seems as time passes, and thanks to the internet and other forms of communication, more and more people are "coming out" so-to-speak.

Also, i think we are normal people, we have problems like everyone else. Ours is this, theirs is that, but i think we normal :)

take care!
dan
Posted 8/5/2007 10:24 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Jen!  It sounds as if you have a very good positive mental attitude.  Keep it up!  Staying positive will only make you stronger.  You have already received some very good advice.  May I add a suggestion...... When I was agoraphobic, I got very bored also.  I live in an area with woods behind me.  So, I purchased some bird feeders, different types of bird seed, a cheap pair of binoculars, and a bird book.  To this day, I absolutely love watching the birds.  I find it very relaxing.  It also gave me a chance to research each species, what they like to eat, what birds I would see during the change of seasons, etc.  I know all of this may sound cheesy, but it helped me tremenously.  It also got me to step out my door to fill the bird feeders.  (I was afraid to go outside.)  Then it made me spend more time outside, etc.  Just a suggestion.  Have a great day!!  Julie :-)
Posted 8/7/2007 6:44 PM (GMT 0)

Danxiety said...
yeah, i know what you mean. I think that as time goes on more and more of our illness will be exposed in a better light. So many people suffer from the same things, they are just scared to talk about it. It seems as time passes, and thanks to the internet and other forms of communication, more and more people are "coming out" so-to-speak.

Also, i think we are normal people, we have problems like everyone else. Ours is this, theirs is that, but i think we normal :)

take care!
dan

Well put yeah
Posted 8/11/2014 6:45 PM (GMT 0)
There is help out there. I had agoraphobia for many many years. I vowed never to give up until I found a way to overcome this horrible thing. One day I did find the answer. I wrote a whole book about my life and what I did to overcome my agoraphobia. I have been seven years free of all symptoms.
Posted 8/11/2014 11:00 PM (GMT 0)
Forex,

Welcome to HW! You happened upon a very old and inactive thread. I'm going to lock it (just because it hasn't seen a lot of action in several years!) :)

Please feel free to start a new thread and raise the discussion. By the way, I've also been dx'd with agoraphobia, (with a host of other things), so yep, I get it!










M.
✚ New Topic locked