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Can medication help agoraphobia? if so what medication does?

Hey guys i just found this community, im housebounded its been 4months my question is is it possible to just stay home and take medication till they kick in then youll have the motivation to go out? can medication help you go out? if so what medication will work for me?
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Avatar universal
Agoraphobia I feel is rooted in anxiety disorder and that is rooted in depression. I'm not a fan of medications because it can take a long time to find one that even helps a little. One made me feel A LOT worse. If a phobic person can't help but be stuck in the circle of negative thought processes toward a phobic situation and deal with other aspects associated with it like guilt in my case (I feel like I let people down for being weak and Im stuck feeling like they couldnt understand because so few are agoraphobic), then anti depression medication may be needed to help improve someone's attitude toward facing their phobia. Anti anxiety medication can help in the short term but only if they are a crutch and not something the mind develops a reliance on to just face the phobia. That isn't curing a phobia or learning to deal with it until it fades into the background.

The non medication cures are desensitization which involves taking steps outside of the comfort zone, this builds a memory bank of experiences the mind can draw on that aren't as bad as the worst which led to the phobia. This also develops the habit of facing the fear and it also leads to the only way I feel a phobia can be overcome and that's repetition. If a person fears going over a bridge for the first time in a long time, they probably can't feel that same emotion after doing it a dozen times in a short period of time, then do it regularly after that.

There's visualization of things going as you'd like them to go in the phobic situation to replace the negative imagery which the mind defaults to when thinking about them. This can also be done with writing down in detail what you want to happen the next time facing the phobia. This takes alot of practice to get used to which is why I recommend writing it out. For the longest time, just thinking about my phobia made me feel sick to my stomach.

There's self hypnosis, and journaling too but the ultimate goal is to alter the attitude the phobic person has toward facing the phobia from negative to positive. The hardest part for me has been starting out so that I can begin to learn that it's not going to be as bad as imagined and the symptoms of anxiety always pass eventually. Stopping short of starting is extremely difficult to overcome..
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363281 tn?1643235611
Hello~I know this is over a year old, but maybe my suggestions will help someone else having these same issues.

I am not familiar with a lot of the drugs on the market for issues like yours, but, I would like to share the name of some books that helped me immensely with my agoraphobia, I had it badly too. The books are called "Hope and Help for your Nerves" and "Peace from Nervous Suffering" both by Dr Claire Weekes. I think you can still get them from Amazon. I would have been lost without them. She writes as if she was sitting next to you talking, her suggestions and and reasons for having agoraphobia are outstanding. She goes into detail about many of the main symptoms and how to stop them from ruining your life.

Other things that helped me were increasing my daily Vitamin B dosage, taking a good, high potency B complex is a must when under stress like this, they are called the "Nerve vitamins" Seeing a chiropractor also helped as areas in my upper neck were out of alignment, and they were pinching on certain nerves causing me to feel like I did.

My main doctor was a Naturopath, I was prescribed other herbs and vitamins as well, many tests were run. It was discovered that I had multiple food allergies, these were also contributing to my illness. Wheat, eggs, chicken, and beef were the main culprits.

I hope you are feeling better by now and have gotten the help you re searching for.
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2 Comments
How long did it take for you to get over agoraphobia?  I want so badly to be rid of this.  Thanks.
I will be honest, it took many years, but, the good news is, I DID get over it.  Between good chiropractic adjustments, my naturopath's suggestions and prayer, I beat it, but it was a journey, but now, I feel I am stronger and you will be too.
Avatar universal
you should look in biofeedback  it will help
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