[THREAD] I want to talk about agoraphobia a bit. It is a process that happens when we have too many panic attacks or anxiety outside and therefore slowly withdraw more and more in our house. The idea of going outside or in open spaces scares us (almost opposite of claustrophobia)
The reason why this happens is because when we have anxiety attacks, they are more likely to happen outside where there are so many stressors that can trigger those attacks. Therefore, our mind starts to associate the outside world as a dangerous place.
After a while the idea of going outside in itself becomes enough to trigger that panic attack. It is something that can really impact our work, social life an general well-being. The longer it goes on, the more likely it is to become a habit and the harder it is to go outside.
It is important to remember those connections that our minds make because that's how we break them. They function in a highly situational manner. If I get a panic attack while sitting on the grass in a park, triggers may become: people, parks, grass, sounds of cars...
Breaking agoraphobia means that we will have to go through a little bit of discomfort. Every time we step outside, we will have panic attacks. However, panic attacks are short timed even if they are powerful. If we wait until they are gone, then we will feel more comfortable.
Our minds will stop having that link where outside is considered dangerous because we stayed outside until those panic attacks were gone. We can start by slowly going back out. We can just start with outside the front door or building for a few minutes, then the block or street..
And slowly continue to increase that until it is mostly gone. If the panic attacks continue to be severe, it is important to go to therapy or consider medication to keep those under control. While this may not be a big deal during a pandemic,
it may get harder to go out for those who have anxiety once we are on the other side of it and everything is back to 'normal'. Agoraphobia is much more common than we think and comes in different levels of severity. I hope this thread helped clarify this concept a little bit 😊
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