I guess im agoraphobic....help me understand

[teeny31]

I dont drive..so that makes me agroaphobic??

agrophobia is fear of having a panic attack that is out of your comfort zone??

Wouldnt all of us be labeled agoraphobic since we have anxiety?

[alankay]

You are/may be agoraphobic if you develop a fear of being trapped in a situation where escape would be difficult or impossible. It could be fear of being out in the open or (like me) on an airplane where you have no control over things and high anxiety/panic would cause extreme distress. Over time you avoid these situations and it tends to creep out from there(get worse) until you are afraid to drive, go out or into say, a mall to store, standing in a long line. Other kinds of anxiety(specific phobias), panic attacks with no rhyme or reason, Generalized Anxiety or anxiety attacked to memories(PSTD), Social/Performance Anxiety, etc, would not be a form of agoraphobia. "Comfort zone" is a funny term in general. Anxiety in "our" context(anxiety disorders), by definition is waaayyyy more than just being "out of your comfort zone". Why just having to go to the bathroom really badly is "out of your comfort zone". That would minimizing anxiety big time. Alankay