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[anthony]

So what concludes you to believe you have PTSD?

 

[AngelaMarie]

Welcome to the Forum, Pia. I hope you can overcome the agoraphobia.:)

 

[Pia]

So what concludes you to believe you have PTSD?

II have it sadly and agoraphobia is just one of its nasty symptoms amongst the others and this does prevent help and options for me there are no resources where I live. I feel very stuck and really require some help. I have no family and support. The medical sources I have are scant. My medical practitioner referred me to the councilors available, (something that did terrify me as I don't like talking about it) in this district however, they responded that they felt they were unable to treat me with the information she gave them and to go to the city that is 300km from here..

 

[Pia]

Welcome to the Forum, Pia. I hope you can overcome the agoraphobia.:)

Thank you, I would love to get over agoraphobia it would be brilliant, to live without it or at least have it in control.

 

[Cheshire]

I don't mean this to be a confrontational or rude message at all, but I'm just wondering, based on your replies in other threads, have you self-diagnosed yourself as having PTSD? If so, what are you basing this on? Even if you don't want to go into extreme detail, what has happened in your life that causes you to believe you have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

I ask this because most people here would really love to offer you support and comfort and advice and friendship, but all of your posts are lacking in any sort of information about PTSD specifically, which is what this forum is based around. I understand agoraphobia too, and I know many others on these boards do too, but agoraphobia stemming from PTSD seems to be to be different from agoraphobia stemming from other events/triggers/incidents/mental states.

 

[Pia]

Oh, its okay what you said. No I have been diagnosed with PTSD and specifically by a professional in this area.

 

[Kintsugi]

Hi Pia, sorry to hear that you feel trapped. I know that it is a very real feeling of fear and threat.

I can't directly relate to not understanding the source of this extreme type of fear, though I know that the fears that have kept me living in a single room for lengths of time were irrational, and that is a form of not understanding. What helped me was deciding between if I was willing to allow my fears to control me and carry on in such an exhausting manner or if I could just grin and bear it and do a couple of safe(r) experiments of leaving my safe room, see what happens. My thinking at the time, although grim, was useful in the end: nothing could be worse than living this way forever, and trying to change can happen at whatever pace I want. The room wasn't going anywhere and historically speaking I was likely to still be breathing later that night.

I'm not trying to oversimplify or minimize your situation, Pia. This is what helped liberate me. It was a struggle to change, but that was the darkest time of my life and it was worth the fight to get out. I hope the best for you.

 

[Pia]

Thank you for what you said and I absolutely agree with you. I try really hard to do things instead of when I have to. Going to buy groceries instead of starving. I know that it is irrational but the feeling that I will die and utter confusion keeps me in. I have tried to repeat simple things like going to my letter box, over and over again even on the weekend. If I have to talk to someone at the shops I stutter so badly and the ability to get my distress under control is paramount. I say my pin number over and over again like a mantra to get through pay out. It is so hard. Its very kind what you said and I have to fix this problem Your input is appreciated and its great to hear that you overcame this struggle

 

[Srain]

Pia, how long ago were you diagnosed with PTSD? Is this when you developed Agoraphobia?

I ask because after being unable to find treatment for my PTSD I was isolating more and more and experienced yet another traumatic event which I was unable to find proper therapeutic help for which left me more and more depressed and isolated. Soon I was living with the shades pulled, then in my bedroom only, sneaking out only to let the dog out, and feed her. I stopped driving and it became quite bad and serious.

After quite a long time I was able to find some help that reached out to me, getting me from my front door to the post box, eventually down the block, still it took years to drive again. My original traumas have taken longer.

BTW welcome to the site :) Rain

 

[Pia]

I was diagnosed about 10 years ago and the agoraphobia developed after that and has been severe for years now. I really need to fix it as I can't go on like this in this never ending cycle. I need to do something about it. Everyday is getting harder and harder to get through it is so bleak and depressing. I think over the years the agoraphobia has become worse and worse it is a consequence of catastrophic events and continual abuse. I have improved to this static cocoon to survive but this is not living.

 

[Pia]

I think in hind sight I probably have had some form of agoraphobia for years and years always a preference to be as I see it safely at home than out. I lost my family home over a year ago and since moving my new home is foreign to me I have still not unpacked and there are boxes everywhere. I feel like a stranger here. I was for months wishing I could go back to where I lived. The fact that I will never go back has depressed me and I think I have got through this now and so because although it was an unsound and illogical it was a sense of hope. Hopelessness of being here forever is consuming me. Having to unpack I just can not do. I have tried little by little but the thought of it makes me feel sick to the stomach. So I feel trapped in a horrible environment too. I feel as if I have lost everything apart from my mind.