Welcome to the Anxiety Forum - A Home for Those with Anxiety, Fear, or Panic Attacks.
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  1. #11
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Ireland
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    4
    Does anyone else ever get struck by thoughts that they can't trust humans. That all people are possessed by the devil and are not what they appear to be. This is my obsessional fear but I never ever come across anyone else who experiences such thoughts. Am I completely crazy???????????? When with other people I often involuntarily imagine what is within a person's head and body and imagine all kinds of weird black images that upset me and cause panic attacks. Can anyone else relate to this????????????????????????????????????

  2. #12
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    497
    Quote Originally Posted by scared44 View Post
    I also suffer social phobia and only used to leave my home to go to the doctor's! Then one day I told myself that I had to get out of the house each day even if it was for a quick coffee, a bit of shopping ect ect!! It has certainly helped me alot even though I still have a panic attack when I'm out. I'm also at the point where I don't care what people think of me ect ect. I've had my panic disorder, depression ect since the age of 12yrs and am now 45yrs and it never gets any easier. You have to push through your fears. If I can anyone can believe me. Take care... :-) xx
    Yes that's exactly what you have to do. Keep going out, facing it. Go after the anxiety with the same vengeance it goes after you. You'll win. Anxiety's a bully, the bully always backs down when it's confronted. Anxiety thrives on reaction to survive. Be Well ! Trust me I know it never gets easier.

  3. #13
    Senior Member
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    Jun 2013
    Location
    Wichita, KS
    Posts
    145
    Its very hard and might take some time but you can do it. I got out for the first time in a while today..if only for 20 minutes. I struggled the whole time but I did it. Judie is spot on! Anxiety is a bully, but we can kick its ass.

  4. #14
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
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    497
    Quote Originally Posted by Salliz View Post
    I have been suffering from depression and anxiety for years and only recently had developed a fear of leaving the house. It is a horrible feeling and I totally understand. I have been physically forcing myself make small trips out to places I feel comfortable and then have been pushing myself a little more each time. I have had to double my meds to do it. But I am getting there. Goodluck.
    That's exactly what you have to do Salliz, desensitize yourself and retrain your brain to know that anxiety starts in the mind and ends in the mind. Empower yourself and the best way to do it is to consistently go out and face the realization that negative thoughts and fear bring it on and positive thoughts and guts get rid of it. Be Well

  5. #15
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    19
    That is exactly what I did when I started feeling like that. Forced myself to leave every day, invented somewhere to go, grocery store for a quick trip, bank. If I had several errands in a week, I didn't do them in one day, I made them last all week. It took a few months, but that fear of leaving home went away. It does work to make yourself go out. I'm still a homebody, and perfectly happy if I stay home all day but I don't fear leaving.

  6. #16
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    18
    I think you need to take small steps. Try to gain small exposure to social situations. For example, try to leave your room for a certain time limit.

  7. #17
    I had to reply im in the exact same boat i fear leaving the house mainly because off becoming ill when i hav my toddler with me. Im just trying to learn to cope with this. I liked reading all the comments of others. X

  8. #18
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Florida, USA
    Posts
    2,655
    At some point you need to get you life back and they may come at the cost of "forcing" yourself to trust/try a therapist again and/or trying meds. Anxiety treatment, any medical treatment in fact, is not always what we want unfortunately. Alankay

  9. #19
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Posts
    28
    I'm starting to get back out again. I find small trips to places I can get out of work the best, like walk in CVS, look around, leave if it's too much. (the mall in other words wouldn't work!) I'm getting out more and more and even though it's tough I feel better about myself. I will say my mom couldn't even go to her mailbox at the end of her driveway for months when she was in her 20s. This is the same lady that in her 50's has been cruising the world! She travels 7-8 months out of the year and if panic hits she just figures 'screw it', I can do it!

  10. #20
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Bay Area
    Posts
    24
    Keep it up. Eventually it gets easier. I would not avoid the malls. Put yourself there also. Eventually this will all be behind you. I had agoraphobia and put myself in stores and malls almost every day. Malls were the worst. After I started to get used to the crowd in malls I started to pay attention to what was causing me to have panic. What I found was I would start to feel panic when people would pop into my peripheral vision. Panic comes from fear of the the illness not fear of being in crowds. What I found was every time I started to have panic I would pay attention to the sensation and fear it because the sensation is horrible. Fear fuels panic, so try to ignore it once it wants to hit. Divert your attention to something other than the sensation. Another thing I caught myself doing was when I would walk into a store I would immediately look to see how many people are in the store. I now just walk in and pay attention to what I'm there for not how many people are there. No matter how much anxiety or panic wants to come on ignore it and go about your business and eventually the panic wi dissolve into nothing.

 

 

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