Robyn Wilder! Profile picture
20 Aug, 10 tweets, 11 min read
@ADDeeCee @maybeADHdee @stuheritage I got over agoraphobia the first (and second) time by strictly paring my life down (as much as was possible) to a three-pronged approach:

1. Exposure therapy
2. Talk therapy
3. EXTREME SELF CODDLING ..
@ADDeeCee @maybeADHdee @stuheritage 1. Graded exposure: a CBT based method of lowering your panic response through daily exposure. I was fully housebound so my first exercise was going to the bottom of my garden, noting my panic level on a worksheet like page 13 bit.ly/3kecOBU , staying as long as I could
@ADDeeCee @maybeADHdee @stuheritage Then coming home. I’d repeat for as long as I could until my panic level dropped to a 2 or a 3, then my next exercise was walking to the end of my cul de sac, and repeating. Tedious but worked. Good to work with a therapist who will check in on themes with you.
@ADDeeCee @maybeADHdee @stuheritage 2. Talk therapy: I had a psychologist but I was honestly in no place to analyse anyfuckingthing. I did need to BLURT a lot, so again good to have just a counsellor who can listen. DO NOT join online support groups eg FB or Reddit. They’ll just bring you down/retrigger trauma etc.
@ADDeeCee @maybeADHdee @stuheritage I mean online “support” groups re agoraphobia/anxiety unless they’re heavily moderated/limited to a specific therapy group. You can take on others’ problems too. *DO* educate yourself about agoraphobia. @AnxietyUK has wonderful resources bit.ly/3kcR5dz
@ADDeeCee @maybeADHdee @stuheritage @AnxietyUK Including this @AnxietyUK agoraphobia document from 2010. It’s a self-help guide in the truest sense — you can use it to get voer your agoraphobia! But you must use:

3. EXTREME SELF-CODDLING. By recovering you’re essentially giving yourself daily panic attacks on top of your
@ADDeeCee @maybeADHdee @stuheritage @AnxietyUK Existing daily load, so you really need to look after yourself. Apply house plant rules (+++ water, sunlight, food), nap like a house cat (several times a day), early nights should be standard, and ONLY read/eat/watch/wear/be with YOUR COMFIEST NICEST FAVOURITES.
@ADDeeCee @maybeADHdee @stuheritage @AnxietyUK All personally now a bit tricky since I’ve additional people, jobs, health issues, and trauma, but this is essentially a route to success. I’ve written about overcoming agoraphobia and living with anxiety all over the shop bit.ly/2WfDMRH bit.ly/3gjVDha
@ADDeeCee @maybeADHdee @stuheritage @AnxietyUK Good luck; you can totally do this. x

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Robyn Wilder!

Robyn Wilder! Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @orbyn

19 Aug
Here’s a lovely piece by @stuheritage, who is constantly and tirelessly trying to innovate a way to Patch-Adams me out of my low ebb.
The weekend my husband took the kids camping, I lined up 5 binegable feel-good movies on Netflix, then cleared off the sofa, and spent the entire weekend wondering why I couldn’t bring myself to sit down. Depression-anxiety-ADHD-bereavement-breakdown. Do not recommend.
Bingeable*. Also, I would like to clarify, GLAMPING.
Read 5 tweets
27 Feb
Hey, here’s a question:

How do you select, direct and evaluate therapy?
• Psychiatry? Psychology? Psychotherapy? Counselling? “Other”? How to choose/differentiate?
• What if you have multiple diagnoses and/or issues?
• And what if your only “therapy goal” is “to feel better”?
I ask this after 20 years of therapy (various; extortionate) that managed to entirely miss my SEVERE LIFELONG ADHD, but ALSO ascribed (what I now know as) my ADHD behaviour symptoms, including confusion/forgetfulness, to “a lack of engagement”, which was relatively harmful.
I’d like to add that I’m still searching for reliable, effective therapy— and I still don’t know what that looks like, for me, even though I’ve gained a lot of insight since my ADHD diagnosis. The main problem I’ve found is that many of the therapists I’ve talked to haven’t been
Read 11 tweets
15 Nov 20
Today would have been my mother’s 75th birthday, so here’s a quick message of support to anyone who’s had to distance themselves from a loved one: I loved my mother. My mother died six months ago, and I am still grieving — but I have no regrets.
People who have good family relationships will never understand that you can love someone but still be estranged from them. They may assume you’re selfish, lazy, uncaring or plain stupid, and pressure you to reconcile “before it’s too late”.
They don’t understand that “too late” already happened for you, a few times, and that your choice to step away was a life-saving measure.
Read 8 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(