Is this agoraphobia?

[ivebeenreadytofly]

I'll try to make this short.

I'm only 17, but when I was 16 in May of last year, I went on a school trip and apparently had a panic attack. I had NEVER had one before until that day and I ended up in the hospital because I didn't know what was going on. After I returned home the next day I was fine. No anxiety, not panic attacks, I still went out and did things, went places far from home. My second panic attack was at work one day in October I hadn't eaten all day and it was 4 in the afternoon after school. It hit me really ffast and I thought I was gonna pass out. After I went home that day I was fine. No anxiety after that either. Went out, went back to work I was fine. Then in January I went to school after Christmas vacation and all of a sudden I couldn't function there or anywhere else. I got panic attacks at school a few times that week, and from then on I've been an anxiety machine. All of a sudden I can't go out by myself anywhere. I used to be able to drive myself to the next town over to go shopping and now the thought of driving anywhere by myself freaks me out. I had to skip out of my graduation trip with the class because I knew I couldn't handle it.

I have no idea what is going on. I just dont want to be alone anywhere. Well, I can be alone at home, or if I drive around town and do things on my own I'm fine, but going to the next town over I cant.

This happened all of a suddend and it's weirding me out. Before all of this I was happy and carefree and now i'm just trapped and cant do anytthing. :(

Can diet cause this? Cause I am a teen and defintely dont eat healthy... and I know I have PTSD from previous events in my life that I've never been able to actually deal with. I just graduated and after my junior year I just got all panicky about getting done school.

I just want to be independant again. I can't stand depending on other people to make me feel safe. I want to feel safe in my own skin! :(

Any advice on what I can do? I refuse to take any meds, that is a definite no-no.

[SophieLouise]

I defently can relate. I am also 17 but unfortunatly I have been suffering with this for about 4-5 years now, so I cant realy remember how it feels without it.

Diet does help, I reccomend drinking lots of water and cutting down on caffine and junk food.

One thing you must remember is avoiding these situations that make you panic, will make the panic grow. You must continue to fight and not give in. Do things in smalls steps but do not stop doing them no matter how hard they may seem.

You should learn some relaxation techniques as these are a big help. Cognitive therapy is something you should look in to and try :)

Hope I helped :)

[Charmbracelet81]

I agree with Sophia to try to see a counselor/therapist if the option is available to you. Were you cleared of anything medical when you went to the ER? While I can't diagnose you, I can say that I have to same issue as you do. When I started having the panic/anxiety while out in the world, my world began to get smaller. I have been in cognitive behavioral therapy for almost a year now and it has worked wonders. She is also right about avoidance. All that does is feed the anxiety and panic. One major thing I am doing in therapy is "exposure therapy." This is where I create a list of things that are hard for me to do and put them in order of "scariest." Then I do each item working up to the toughes one. The thing about it is, you are trying to actually have a panic or anxiety attack while doing these things and SITTING with it rather than fleeing, which re-trains your brain that doing this thing really is ok. Last year I couldn't go to a store that's 5 minutes from my house without panic and just last weekend I travelled to the top of the mountain...I am becoming free again.