AnxietySincePreschool
08-11-2012, 10:45 AM
I had a panic attack a very very long while ago (years) whilst on a trip out and haven't been able to go further than around 20-30 miles since. I've always had agoraphobia but it gradually went away by gradually going further and further around the country, then after that awful episode everything was reset.
I plan on seeing someone about this soon, but I wanted to know if there is anything I could try on my own (similarly to like I did before), I want to be able to go to another major city nearby (that is my goal for now) but I feel very anxious even on the motorway and the motion of the vehicle doesn't help.
I have tried in my head breaking it down for example focusing on a point in the distance (not too far away) and imagining/saying to myself 'the journey ends there we'll be there soon and it will be fine, nothing to worry about' then once I'm at that point I focus on another point and do the same so the journey/distance from home just seems like a series of points which isn't too far away and doesn't feel unsafe, I also do the same with the time spent away (only thinking about the next 30 minutes or hour) instead although the 20-30 miles I speak of is already somewhat of a push, I was wondering if there are any tips of techniques you have personally used that I could try. ???
I plan on seeing someone about this soon, but I wanted to know if there is anything I could try on my own (similarly to like I did before), I want to be able to go to another major city nearby (that is my goal for now) but I feel very anxious even on the motorway and the motion of the vehicle doesn't help.
I have tried in my head breaking it down for example focusing on a point in the distance (not too far away) and imagining/saying to myself 'the journey ends there we'll be there soon and it will be fine, nothing to worry about' then once I'm at that point I focus on another point and do the same so the journey/distance from home just seems like a series of points which isn't too far away and doesn't feel unsafe, I also do the same with the time spent away (only thinking about the next 30 minutes or hour) instead although the 20-30 miles I speak of is already somewhat of a push, I was wondering if there are any tips of techniques you have personally used that I could try. ???