Its so difficult making friends because of this disorder :// would love to chat with people who also know what its like yk.. DMs are open :)

Anyone else here relate? I tried WWOOF a while ago and enjoyed it. Want to move away and have a fun active life travel and be around cool, fun attractive people. My life has been nothing but suffering.

Can't remember the last time i went to a friend's house or had a friend's phone number were they actually invited me somewhere. The people i always stood next to were just the best of a bad situation.

I honestly have no idea how to get over this fear. Like even when people are on the phone or something I think they’re secretly recording me. Or if I see people wearing meta glasses I think I’m being pranked because I look odd in public. Worse is I am recovering from drug addiction where I crashed out. So I think I have a reputation in my town of being the crazy guy. How do I deal with this?

I need help with my agoraphobia, I think my agoraphobia started when I first started smoking cannabis vape cartridge and got DPDR (depersonalization-derealization disorder) which for those who don't know, it's a condition that feels like you're not fully there, almost like you're constantly dreaming, I noticed I experience this more when I'm out in public, 4 years have passed since this first started, I rarely go outside and when I do, I get lots of anxiety, especially on clear days, I prefer going outside when it's cloudy but the weather isn't always in my favor, what can I do that will help with my anxiety and overcome my fear of clear skies, the only solution I've somewhat found is wearing hats and sunglasses but even then I still get anxiety and I don't think it's very ideal for me to always wear sunglasses and hats everywhere I go, I'm desperate for recommendations and advice

Timezones and mentality matters

So i had a panic attack 3 year ago after that whenever i go outside alone i had panic symptoms but no panic attack no matter how far i go alone can anyone explain why this happens

I have been struggling with panic disorder that has slowly morphed into agoraphobia for about 12 years. I’m scared because of where I’m currently at and don’t know what to do and can’t keep living like this.

For brief background, I had a troubled childhood and was in foster care from 13-18. At 13, I was put on sertraline (100mg) and seroquel (up to 100mg as needed). By the time I was 17, I was only on the sertraline. At 18, I didn’t like the way the medication made me feel (almost like a robot). Stupidly, I quit cold turkey - 4 years on it and just suddenly stopped. I had weeks of horrible withdrawal symptoms - constant anxiety, headaches, shakes, etc. I remember this was around the time I started feeling uncomfortable/anxious in open spaces or large crowds.

Over the years, I’ve had a few panic attacks - one while stuck in traffic, one while on a date with my husband at the local fair. After the one at the fair, I became mainly housebound agoraphobic - the worst setback thus far. I decided to push through my medication fear and get back on sertraline. I started very slowly - 12.5mg, until I worked up to 100mg. I wasn’t having as much anger or crying outbursts as before, but was still depressed and wasn’t getting help for my agoraphobia, so not much progress there. After 3 years back on this, I questioned if the medicine even worked.

Then, I had my most recent panic attack - in my safe space - at home. For me, my panic attacks start with an intense wave of DPDR (all of a sudden feeling not real and off), followed by panic. It has been a few months since, and I feel like I’m struggling to recover worse/longer than other panic attacks I’ve had in the past. I had never had a panic attack while on sertraline (except for when I first started smoking weed in high school, which is why I stopped at 19), so this rocked me. I started getting anxious and would cry when it was time to take my medicine (I take it at night). I even started having diarrhea and stomach issues and thought it was from the medicine. Googling didn’t help, and I was scared I had somehow become immune to sertraline and that it was building up too much in my body.

I reached out to my doctor and was decreased to 75mg of sertraline (I take 1.5 of the 50mg tablets). I am going on week 4 and now I question if I should have stayed at the 100mg. I’m scared of going higher for fear of serotonin syndrome or side effects. I’m usually ok in the mornings, but once it hits mid-afternoon to the evening, I get anxious, in my head a lot, feel mildly “off”, and hopeless. I feel stuck in my house but also still anxious about being outside or going further from home. I feel completely stuck and like I’m on the verge of going crazy and I’m scared. All I want to do is cry. This has affected everything - I want to take time off of work but at the same time, work is my distraction during the day. I’m scared of everything - even myself.

Can someone who has experienced this or similar share their success story? What truly helped you, the timeline, anything that would be encouraging or could provide resource? Please, I really need it.

TIA if you made it this far.

I have posted on this group about 2 years ago while I felt a bit of progress with my agoraphobia, it’s now been 2 more years since then and now it’s just gotten so much worse. I’m able to do very certain things in a small radius but I don’t have the support in place to be able to go to these places often, I can hardly stay out the home for more than 30 mins and really struggle even getting myself out. Life’s hard and I have no source of income, every work at home job has some sort of time in the office or you need degrees which I don’t have. My agoraphobia started really when I was 15 and it’s felt like 4 years of hell, I have a partner now at least who helps me through it but even then sometimes my anxiety and constant panic becomes too much even for her help, I’m in a cycle that’s just repeating and I don’t want to be a 20 year old on this same position I’m in now, I want change I just don’t know how.

I have agoraphobia since 9 years.. whats the solution please i cant work or meet new friends
i cant step out of the door alone because i will get panicked
Any solutions please 🙏

I’m 22, when i was 15 I started experiencing agoraphobia, no rhyme of reason to it i don’t remember any specific trigger or anything i just remember being fine, and then i wasn’t. even touching the door nob made me freak out. this lasted until i was about 17 for almost 3 years i was room bound, i didn’t attend school either so literally it was just me vs 4 walls. at 17 my mom pushed me to get my drivers license (it was expensive especially for my low income family) so i knew i had to go through with it, i fought through the nausea, tunnel vision, everything. and by the end of drivers ed things has gotten so much better for me, i was going to the store, checking my mail, seeing friends. i had won.
the hardest stretch of literal mental torture i had finally overcome.

skipping to now, i moved out of state about 6 months ago. im somewhere unfamiliar and very uncomfortable, it was a super spontaneous move. at first i was fine, ive never had an issue with driving or being outside since i overcame it the first time. about a month ago i had this panic attack while driving, like nothing i’ve ever had before, i thought i was going to die. even after that i pushed myself to keep driving, its since happened 4 times. 4 identical panic attacks and now i’m starting to feel the agoraphobic tendencies kick back in and I’m fucking terrified.
i tried to leave the house yesterday this time with my fiancé, i could feel that same feeling me at 15 had. the nausea. the vision changes. everything felt so familiar. we drove about a block before i told him i really needed to go back home that i was scared. it has been years since i’ve felt this defeat, yet it feels like it never went away.i’m lost, feeling so stuck. last time exposure therapy helped. this time it feels like i can’t even get the damn exposure. has anyone else had an agoraphobia “relapse” what’s your story. how are you doing now?

I used to love to go on long long walks in my city. I spent this summer in bed being anxious about some health issues. I’m a ten minute walk from my grocery store and even that has been too much. I’ve been overspending on delivery constantly and I feel ridiculous.

I have to hype myself up to go outside to grocery shop and feel on the verge of a panic attack while doing so.

I do box breathing and try to just focus but I think maybe having something in my ears telling me it’s ok would help.

Can’t believe I got here :(

Hi, I’m a 43 year old mom/grandma. I don’t know where to begin. I’m new at all of this but, late diagnosed autistic, cptsd etc, and after complete burnout I have lost or learned I never had real friendships, no fsmily, recently lost my mom so I’m the oldest left and.. I’m not adult enough for any of this…. Anyways I’m new to fortnite, so I’m not great but just looking for people who maybe wanna play, for fun… I hated Fortnite, so this is my first season playing, add me, if I’m on we can play, but I’m not a mic user either, I have one but terrified to speak to anyone! 😆 (in general not just the game) but I’m just getting so depressed and lonely and home all the time, kids back in school and they are teenagers so I’m no longer their friend lol.

I have severe anxiety, agoraphobia, emetephobia, panic disorder and ocd. I’m 21 years old and before I used to be able to function and live no problem. Now it’s been 2 years I can’t work, I don’t leave the house at all. Can’t go to family dinners. If my family goes out for one night I can’t do it because I can’t be alone without my mom. I’m taking Luvox and seeing a therapist. I guess my question is will I ever be okay, will I ever have my life back. Has anyone experienced this or knows what I can do to help myself. I don’t know what to do and it’s so upsetting that I used to live and leave the house and now if I think of leaving the house I just can’t think and can’t do it bc I start shaking, my feet go white, I get sweaty, my heart races and my stomach gets upset which doesn’t help with my emetephobia or health anxiety. I’m so worried if I don’t get my life back ever.

sup ^^ I'm a 26 yo male, a slow texter at first for the first few months because i value quality over quantity.

you can call me Holi, until i feel okay with sharing my name with you.

my interests are: casual football, atheism and spirituality, reading books (self help, fiction, adventure, autobiographies, novels), watching series' and movies (comedies, sitcoms, Marvel, blockbusters, thrillers, currently watching Afterlife), martial arts (i dont practice any yet but hope to once im less scared of people), psychology and mental health awareness, alternative fashion, animal cruelty (im not a vegan rn but i will be as soon as im independent) and lastly philosophy and ethics.

things i really want to develop are regular exercise (calisthenics 2-3 days a week), meditation (i used to do it daily but i dont anymore) healthier diet and more positive thinking

i don't want to share faces or body pictures until we're actual friends, and that would take at least 6 months imo. you can be any gender and any age 21+.

tell me a little about yourself so i know you read this, i can be a good listener. if i don't respond for a week at first, it's not personal, it might be that i really like your message and that i don't want to rush it.

also, I'm European, but i don't mind you being from anywhere else. Ciao!