You know I've joked for years that the only place I'm comfortable is at home. From Wiki - Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by anxiety in situations where it is perceived to be difficult or embarrassing to escape. These situations can include, but are not limited to, wide-open spaces, crowds, and uncontrollable social situations such as may be met in shopping malls, airports, and on bridges. Agorophobia is defined within the DSM-IV TR as a subset of panic disorder, involving the fear of incurring a panic attack in those environments. The sufferer may go to great lengths to avoid those situations, in severe cases becoming unable to leave their home or safe haven.
Now the question is, how to manage it.
Drugs work for me.
ReplyDeleteSometimes.
The job helps too...M says that if you fake it long enough, eventually it isn't....more esoteric wisdom from the King of Arcane Knowledge!
Mantras, chanting under the breath, (and not 'kill, kill, kill, either)chamomile and valerian, and most effectively, repeated small exposures. A long road, and a rocky one...but if this wussy little condiment can pull it off, well, you're more formidable than i am, lady.
Blessed Be!
I just realized that it was a fear, and a huge one at that. I think maybe that's half the battle?
DeleteKnowing the enemy makes it easier to fight, that's very true. If you're anything like me with this(i spent 10 years as a virtual hermit) then it's more like a third of the battle, though.
DeleteKnowing it's an irrational thing is the start; knowing the triggers, emotional and physical, and learning to anticipate them and cope with them is helpful as well.
I can go to the mall now, and sit and wait for the teenagers to shop, as long as i bring a book. 5 years ago, just the thought of going to the mall would have made me pee my pants. !!!!!