Natural Healing for Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia prevented me from living a normal life. I suffered from this disorder for a couple years before finally getting the courage to ask for help. Sometimes I was so comfortable living this way and I didn't a professional, such as a therapist or psychologist, to ruin that comfort by suggesting that I go outside and face my fears. I was in my comfort zone and I felt it was way too hard to leave.

Agoraphobia is the fear of going out in public places and I had a very great fear of it. The fear stemmed from having a panic or anxiety attack in a public place. A few times I did happen to make it out of the house, but I felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety, accompanied by symptoms such as sweating, shaking, disorientation, dizziness and heart palpitations.

I spent a few years isolating myself in the house. The isolation caused a deep, dark depression. I had lost interest in mostly everything, my days went by so slow and I was very lonely. Eventually, I got to a point where I just couldn't take it anymore. I knew this wasn't the life I wanted to live. That is when I called for help.

It took me awhile to find the right person. I had seen therapists and psychologists in the past for an anxiety disorder but most of them pushed medication on me. Unfortunately, the medications I took for anxiety, only gave me bad side effects and no help at all. So I became discouraged and gave up. I gave up until the point where my anxiety led to agoraphobia.

After doing some research, I found a great psychologist. He has helped me to overcome some of my anxiety and fears. I have been able to go places and do things that I hadn't been able to do in a couple years. He prefers natural healing as well as opposed to medication. It was great for me to find a doctor that didn't push medication on me.

It is best to take gradual steps to help overcome agoraphobia or any type of anxiety disorder. The first step that helped me was learning to control the anxiety inside of my house. I would think, or imagine myself going outside and the feelings of anxiety I would get would be almost overwhelming. My heart would race, I would sweat and start to feel disoriented.

My psychologist recommended that I do EFT, also known as Emotional Freedom Technique. The technique is a form of acupuncture. It is tapping your fingers on certain points of your body. The points that I tap on are the outside of my hand, also known as the karate chop point, my brow bone, the area above my lip and under my nose, the middle of my chin and a spot in between my clavicle bone. By tapping these areas with my fingers for a short period of time, I notice a surge of energy and a decrease in anxiety.

I use affirmations while tapping and using EFT. I will say "Even though I feel anxiety about going outside, I feel fine." I also say other things that help me and give me reassurance that I will be okay.

Meditation may help too. Sometimes in the beginning, it was hard for me to clear my mind because I had so many thoughts running through it. I would find it hard to be calm and still. Now after doing EFT, I feel more calm. I like to look at beautiful scenes and listen to relaxing music that I find on the internet. Now that I am healing, I am able to clear my mind and focus on relaxation. This has helped to calm my panic attacks as well.

Another thing that has helped me is exposure therapy. Going out and facing my fears, step by step, has really helped me to realize that my fears aren't really justified. It is me who is preventing myself from doing things. My mind and thoughts create the anxiety and fear that have been holding me back.

Starting out doing small things, such as standing on the front step for five minutes or taking a small walk down the block and then gradually doing more things, such as shopping in a supermarket have really helped me to realize that nothing bad happens when I do these things. I use the Emotional Freedom Technique before going out, then I do something that day and I notice a sense of calm now when I do things.

I do not feel that fear that I've always felt. Of course, I still do have a little anxiety trying bigger steps, but then I can learn to overcome those fears more because I keep going at it. I keep facing my fears and it is desensitizing me to those fears. The more I do, the easier it becomes to do more.

Now the only thing that would give me fear about going out, would be giving up, going home and surrendering to the anxiety. I never want to go back to that deep, dark place again. Going out and putting up with the anxiety, as scary and frightening as it is, is far better than being alone, home bound and not experiencing a normal, joyous life.

There is so much more to life outside of my front door. If anything positive came out of my experience with agoraphobia, it is that I appreciate every little thing that much more. I take time to observe the way the trees look, the grass, flowers, the sky, clouds and the sun. I take it in and really enjoy looking at it. Being around people again is definitely something I appreciate the most.

To be able to hold a conversation with a neighbor or smile at someone at the store, instead of running and hiding due to a fear of panic is a much better feeling than hiding in the house alone, just watching precious time go by. I am going to continue to progress because I now have hope. Getting the right help is well worth it.