[Pi.R^2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sherlock holmes

I had bad agoraphobia when I was discharged from my section. I couldn't leave the house except to go to sainsbury's once a week with my mum.

I had help from my CPN and we started off by walking to the end of my road and I rated my anxiety out of 10. I had to stay there until my anxiety came down to about 4 and then we walked back. It was important not to go home if I was panicking because it only reinforced the feeling that home is safe and outside isnt.

We walked further each week, then she drove me to a coffee shop in town. It was harder but we sat in there until my anxiety came down and then we'd leave. We did that each week until I didn't feel anxious going to the cafe any more.

We stepped it up to driving somewhere further, then I would get the train 1 stop, then 2 stops, then 3 and so on. Just slowly doing more and more things, but always sitting with my anxiety until it receded before going home.

When I felt like I was panicking I'd use mindfulness techniques, especially deep breathing. I'd often listen to music to distract myself.

Its hard at first, but the more you repeat doing an anxiety inducing activity the easier it gets until you stop feeling anxious. Then you move onto the next thing.

I cope with train journeys by listening to music, looking out of the window and describing in my head what I can see. I often read a book, and sit near to the toilet (one of my anxieties is needing the toilet urgently).

This sounds like a really helpful way to manage things!

I would also add that perhaps getting out just a little bit each day would be a good idea? It's completely different, but I'm more nervous about work after a holiday, because leaving a big gap between doing something scary seems to make the anticipation worse, whereas during a normal week I'm there five days in a row and it doesn't seem quite so scary because the memory that the world didn't end when I went to work yesterday is still very fresh in my mind!