agoraphobia ?

[Alan tm]

Just wondering has anyone been tagged with agoraphobia
As the firsts diagnosis when sent to see a doctor?

I went to the doctors years ago and they leapt on agoraphobia
As an answer.

Yes being in town, crowds and personal space is a problem but I really think they were way off.

They also were totally confused by my very clear statement on I don’t love my family.

I was trying to say I dont feel that connection that seems to be missing,

agoraphobia? Easy to confuse?

 

[OkRad]

Mental Health are as varied as the practioners who make them. 10 years from now, the mental health field will be laughable.

Telling someone they are mentally ill because they can't stand crowds? What bunk

 

[Judge]

In my early 20s I once pondered whether or not I was agoraphobic. Found answers to such questions many years later, more related to being on the spectrum.

 

[kay]

Sounds more like agoradread. A perfectly reasonable response to crowded places.

 

[Alan tm]

It was more the people not the space, to be honest I'm not sure why people affect me at all. It's Not logical .

Strip lighting was most of the buildings problem but I didn't realise it back then.
Certain shops librarys make me feel very ill still.
Everyone should move over to LED.

I'd explain to them I felt like I was getting big tics ,like shocks.
Down to anxiety going through the roof at a background level till I'd just pop.
I still get that now .

 

[Gracey]

Not having suspected Autism til much later in life, (Peri menopause)
(And never living in one place long enough to enjoy the same family doctor)

I am pinned with some mental health labels which; if I ask my current GP to consider or look at my medical history again, I do think it would point to HFA and related co morbid conditions.

I can identify with the term agoraphobia and it's symptoms but intermittently. Which to me would mean it isn't agoraphobia ... Even though it presents as agoraphobia albeit sporadically. ??

 

[Major Tom]

In my opinion 75% of the time psychologists are just guessing, unless its a very obvious disability, and even then they mess up. Chances are that if you are on spectrum, that's what's causing your discomfort in crowds. I can't stand crowded places but its due to my sensory issues, rather than being agoraphobic. Maybe go and get a second or third opinion.

 

[SusanLR]

I know I have had agoraphobia most of my life.
It waxes and wanes. It begins with spontaneous panic attacks that create physical sensations that feel like you are dying from either a heart attack or suffocation.
As they continue, each time it reinforces the flight response to get out of the view of people seeing one as it is embarassing and someone may think you are dying and call 911. Also, because the mind is overtaken with the thought that I am dying when you aren't, but the experience is so intense you want to be in your safe zone, usually that is at home.
As the attack lessens this leads to the belief that being away from your home or safe area or even a person that helps you feel safe will bring on another attack.
So the idea is stay at home and the attacks won't happen. Wrong.
But that is the mental thought. So agoraphobia comes from the false sense that home will keep the attacks at bay.

This had nothing to do with social anxiety. Just didn't want the embarassment of being trapped with others when an attack hit.

The ASD issues started by age three. The panic disorder not until 13 yo. which created a lot of problems through my adult life much more than ASD because I was HFA.
Born ASD, panic disorder/agoraphobia co-morbidities later in life.

 

[JenJon]

Just wondering has anyone been tagged with agoraphobia
As the firsts diagnosis when sent to see a doctor?

I went to the doctors years ago and they leapt on agoraphobia
As an answer.

Yes being in town, crowds and personal space is a problem but I really think they were way off.

They also were totally confused by my very clear statement on I don’t love my family.

I was trying to say I dont feel that connection that seems to be missing,

agoraphobia? Easy to confuse?

I haven't been able to see a doctor yet this century because agoraphobia isn't just a fear of going out, but a fear of situations outside our control. I cannot cope with the non-stop music which our surgery will not turn off even when requested to do so under the equality act. I have auditory processing disorder, as most of us on the spectrum have, so cannot listen or talk in competition with music. So I cannot go to the desk to book in or sit in the waiting room. So I do DIY medical treatment instead.

 

[Flown]

I know I have had agoraphobia most of my life.
It waxes and wanes. It begins with spontaneous panic attacks that create physical sensations that feel like you are dying from either a heart attack or suffocation.
As they continue, each time it reinforces the flight response to get out of the view of people seeing one as it is embarassing and someone may think you are dying and call 911. Also, because the mind is overtaken with the thought that I am dying when you aren't, but the experience is so intense you want to be in your safe zone, usually that is at home.
As the attack lessens this leads to the belief that being away from your home or safe area or even a person that helps you feel safe will bring on another attack.
So the idea is stay at home and the attacks won't happen. Wrong.
But that is the mental thought. So agoraphobia comes from the false sense that home will keep the attacks at bay.

This had nothing to do with social anxiety. Just didn't want the embarassment of being trapped with others when an attack hit.

The ASD issues started by age three. The panic disorder not until 13 yo. which created a lot of problems through my adult life much more than ASD because I was HFA.
Born ASD, panic disorder/agoraphobia co-morbidities later in life.

This is really relatable. I've been agoraphobic since childhood as well. I prefer my "safe space" at home. It isn't uncommon for me to have gone months without going outside (strange because I actually love being in the outdoors)--for fear of being seen by others or having to interact with others.

Grocery stores and public places send me into fight-or-flight (after complete overload), and my partner has often had to help guide me back to the car (everything turns surreal, and it isn't uncommon for me to lose my bearings entirely).

I also have trouble with wide open spaces (open sky, scenic vistas, etc). I have no idea why, but I physically feel like my body is going to float into the sky when I view open spaces. Just as an example, my partner and I went to watch a solar eclipse at a quiet park. I had to wrap myself around / cling to my partner due to this "fly away" sensation. (Maybe it is similar to a vertigo sensation?)

 

[Alexej]

I haven't been able to see a doctor yet this century because agoraphobia isn't just a fear of going out, but a fear of situations outside our control.

Hi @JenJon
Welcome to the Forums.

 

[watersprite]

I haven't been able to see a doctor yet this century because agoraphobia isn't just a fear of going out, but a fear of situations outside our control. I cannot cope with the non-stop music which our surgery will not turn off even when requested to do so under the equality act. I have auditory processing disorder, as most of us on the spectrum have, so cannot listen or talk in competition with music. So I cannot go to the desk to book in or sit in the waiting room. So I do DIY medical treatment instead.

Welcome.






What sort of DIY medical treatment are you doing for your condition?

 

[SusanLR]

This is really relatable. I've been agoraphobic since childhood as well. I prefer my "safe space" at home. It isn't uncommon for me to have gone months without going outside (strange because I actually love being in the outdoors)--for fear of being seen by others or having to interact with others.

Grocery stores and public places send me into fight-or-flight (after complete overload), and my partner has often had to help guide me back to the car (everything turns surreal, and it isn't uncommon for me to lose my bearings entirely).

I also have trouble with wide open spaces (open sky, scenic vistas, etc). I have no idea why, but I physically feel like my body is going to float into the sky when I view open spaces. Just as an example, my partner and I went to watch a solar eclipse at a quiet park. I had to wrap myself around / cling to my partner due to this "fly away" sensation. (Maybe it is similar to a vertigo sensation?)

Oh, gosh, I know how it feels to not be able to walk or do anything, let alone think straight during
those panic attacks.
The definition of Agoraphobia is fear of open places and I think some people do feel strange outside
in large open places.
I don't get that, but, I do have an odd sensory issue that just happens and I don't know why in
totally dark places. Ever been in a cave and the lights go out? Or a dark tunnel?
It's sort of like that float away sensation for me. I feel like I don't have a body and no perception
of self. If I shut my eyes, it helps, but not completely.
I must have dim night lights on to sleep.
And strobe lights freeze me. I can't move.

The sensation you are describing isn't like vertigo though.
I have meniere's disease and I get vertigo that lasts for several days.
It is the sensation you are spinning on a very fast merry-go-round and you can't focus
your eyes as everything looks like it is spinning very fast around you also.
I can't do anything but stay in bed when I get those days. Going to the bathroom is a horror.

 

[JenJon]

Welcome.






What sort of DIY medical treatment are you doing for your condition?

Over the last twenty years or so I have mainly treated injuries. I had a rotator cuff tear (Shoulder ligament) but knew what to do so gave myself 18 months of very painful physio and eventually regained full mobility, so I can swim again. There was a minor dislocation in my hand which was easy to put back, a cut that needed stitching but strips of tape worked just as well. I had some heart valve damage causing arrhythmia, but this seems to be regulated now with the right kind of exercise. When I put my back or neck out, trapping a nerve, I can use accupressure and exercises to click it into place again. One day I might need a doctor but I am nearly 70 and still managing well enough for now.

 

[JenJon]

Hi @JenJon
Welcome to the Forums.

Thank you