Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with agoraphobia

How do I find the motivation to leave the house?

Danila — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:39:33 -0800

Long-term cabin fever, please help me get out of the house. I have a long history of depression and social anxiety, both before and after the onset of bipolar II disorder. Over the past 18 months, through medication and therapy, I have made tremendous strides in nearly every area of my life: mentally, emotionally, socially, intellectually, and spiritually. I am also very much an introvert and that won't be changing, but I have been able to sustain friendships and I have grown significantly closer to the people in my life.

The one thing that really nags at me right now is the fact that I still spend the vast majority of my time in my home. I'm more willing and certainly more able to go out, but I have very little desire to do so. In fact, I think I might go out of the house less now than I did when I was depressed.

Through the keeping of mood journals and regular discussions with my therapist, I really don't think I'm depressed. In fact, within my home I am quite active. I spend hours composing music in fruity loops, studying for college and posting messages back and forth with other students (it's online), talking on the phone with friends, reading, researching, etc. I watch very little tv although if I'm feeling physically sick (which is sadly often, due to severe allergies, PCOS, and migraines) I do tend to watch marathons and movies. Yet mentally I feel active, and I feel involved in the lives of others. And I feel good emotionally, in ways I never have before. I've also fixed my sleep schedule so I sleep at night now, and I'm awake during the day (a major victory for me).

But there's a whole world out there. I think some of the problem is that I'm just not used to going out. I have been sick in a number of ways since I was in grade school, and had to have a teacher sent to my home when I was in high school because I couldn't go (eventually dropped out). Before the onset of bipolar I did work, but that was only about a year before I became sick. I have worked and struggled to get the health care I need in spite of my limitations, to earn my diploma and associate's degree, and to rebuild my relationships.

Eventually, I would like to return to work (or continue my education at a brick and mortar school, because I realize I really like school). My therapist and I agree that I'm not quite ready for work yet, not even part time, but surely there's another way to leave the house. I don't even know how to do it, really, like how to establish that kind of routine and I'd appreciate some advice.

How do I make college and my issues play nicely together?

rachaelfaith — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 07:49:09 -0800

Running in circles. Please help me with my anxiety/college/insurance/life in general questions- juicy details inside. Background: I am about to turn 21, and I have been enrolled in two colleges thus far. In both cases, I have taken medical leave for anxiety-related reasons and then opted not to return. I dislike college, though I have a high GPA.

Question 1: Since I am financing my education, should I continue to try and get a degree even though I do not enjoy school? I am looking into online programs that have a brick-and-mortar location as well [Boston U., Northeastern, etc.]. I am about 50 credits into an English degree.

Question 2: If I do choose online classes, I am terrified that I will lose the health insurance I have through my father. I usually have between 6 and 8 doctor appointments per month- not all anxiety related- and I do not think my insurance counts online classes as being in school 'full time.' Any experience with this?

Question 3: If you also deal with anxiety and/or agoraphobia, did you find a way to make college workable? Though I am in CBT, I am not in a place right now to pick up and find a full time job, and I know having a degree is important to employers.

Help my future not suck. I am totally lost and looking to MeFi for advice!

What happened to me?

Anonymous — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 18:25:11 -0800

Did this lousy childhood happen to anyone else? When I was growing up, my mother was so terrified of something bad happening to me or my sister that she kept us all but imprisoned in the home. Went to school, went out in our parents' very close company, but that was it. It was as if we had agoraphobia. (I came to call it agoraphobia by proxy.) This went on through high school, until my sister and I could flee the house.

It was a huge family secret, as these things usually are. I sometimes guess that when I got out in the world I would find that this had happened to someone else, and that it had a name. But so far, nothing, not even a teary Oprah episode.

I wound up in decent shape, though still angry sometimes. But today I remembered my guess that I would hear about this somewhere, and the fact that I never have.

So: Did this happen to you, or someone you know? What is it called? Is there somewhere that people talk about this?

Agoraphobia

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 22:23:35 -0800

Has anyone ever had a significant other or loved one with agoraphobia? How did you come to understand their situation? How did you deal with it? Is there anything the one that isn't suffering from it in the relationship can do to make it easier? "It" could be either the relationship or the agoraphobia itself.