Agoraphobia Breakthrough Tips!
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- Опубліковано 23 жов 2023
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The following are 8 tips for practicing exposure and response prevention therapy for agoraphobia, panic and anxiety disorders. The key lies in confronting your fears, embracing the discomfort, and realizing that anxiety is not insurmountable and that you have the power to tolerate the symptoms.
1. Embrace the anxiety and discomfort:
Feeling anxious during an exposure is natural, it signifies that you are doing the exposure correctly by triggering your fear and it signifies progress.
2. Lean into the fear:
What does that mean…lean into it. Rather than resisting the fear or trying to calm yourself to feel less anxious or distract yourself, you want to feel the anxiety and notice your symptoms. You are dropping your resistance all together.
3. Let go of all safety behaviors:
Safety behaviors can include having other people with you, taking medication or using substances to calm you, bringing medication with you, bringing food or water, monitoring your symptoms, using distraction, practicing calming strategies like breathing methods or trying to relax yourself. Even the smallest safety behavior can negate the exposure and block the benefits.
When you use safety behaviors, like having someone with you in the car while driving or going somewhere, your brain interprets that as being the only reason you could do the exposure and survive it.
Some people can give up their safety behaviors cold turkey, while others work to gradually give these up.
4. Learn something new:
Each exposure is like a little behavioral experiment. Remember the first time you learned to ride a bike. You had to confront your fear, let go of safety behaviors like someone running next to you, and trust yourself. It was scary. You may have even fallen a few times. I remember riding right into a line of picker bushes next to my parent’s driveway. But, somehow, I jumped on that bike again and learned to ride.
That’s exactly what you do in exposure therapy. You are allowing your brain to learn that you can face your fear head on and survive. With practice, your brain creates a new neuro network that we refer to as safety learning. The fear then extinguishes or goes away. However, your goal is not to reduce your symptoms, your goal is to tolerate your symptoms.
5. Embrace Surprise:
Surprises during exposures are golden moments. They strengthen your memory and help to extinguish fear. We surprise ourselves in exposures by planning an exposure where we expect the worse to happen and then learn that it doesn’t happen.
6. Vary Intensity:
We used to say to create a hierarchy and slowly work your way up the hierarchy doing more and more challenging exposures. What inhibitory learning research has taught us is that our brains learn better by varying the intensity of our exposures.
That means that one day you might want to do something very challenging, and another day choose an easier exposure. I do, however, recommend beginning exposure therapy doing exposures that you know that you can get through. This helps to build up your confidence.
7. Change Settings:
You want to change it up often when you do exposures. Fear generalizes and exposures do not. What that means is that fear can spread easily from one thing to another. However, exposures do not.
8. Daily Practice:
Consistency in practice is the key. You will have good days and bad days and recovery is never linear. But practicing daily or as often as possible is the key to long term recovery.
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Until next time...I will see you in session,
Paige
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(Although Paige Pradko is a licensed psychotherapist, the views expressed on this video and this UA-cam channel including comments or any related content should not be taken for medical, psychological or psychiatric advice. Always contact your physician and mental health provider before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.)
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Hi Paige. I've returned to university now and have resumed most, if not all, of my normal activities, such as going to lectures, taking the bus, and restarting the gym (yesterday)! Your videos have been so valuable. I check them every now and then to remind myself. I now realise that true learning can only happen in those moments of fear, anxiety, resistance, rather than avoiding them. Thank you for all that you do!
Congratulations! I know the commitment and courage it takes to recover. I am so happy for you. Thank you for sharing as you will inspire many! ❤️
God bless u Paige...u are amazing..
🙏❤😊
Hi Paige, I’m a young man age 20 in Australia.
I have cardiac anxiety and agoraphobia. They’re what I’d call severe. I fear increasing my heart rate and get really anxious leaving the house otherwise known as my “safe zone”. Because I feel like when I leave I’m vulnerable and I also think “what if I get a panic attack and my heart rate increases and I lose control”. I never thought I’d end up like this but I’m focusing on getting my life back. And thanks to YOU, I’m working on that. Thank you for your knowledge and helping me understand my own Brain haha.
You are not alone and you are brave for stepping towards your fear and working on this. Thank you for sharing because there are so many you will inspire.❤️
I have exactly the same.
Hey Sir , what things are u doing to recover from it , can u provide some effective methods , tips , Knowledge
@@georgeraulwood9399 you asking me or Paige?
@@louisgeen765 you man
This coming Friday, most of the anxiety/Fear causing situations I avoid will come together into one, I am flying to Mexico for the first time, going to a country side small town. The tips and tricks I have learned watching your channel, have been heaven sent, I feel a sense of embracing this adventure, not fearing it, I will go towards what I fear, and I will leave my safety mechanisms (pills) behind, I will be ok with normal levels of anxiety, and I will conquer. Your videos have helped me more than the years I been dealing with therapists at Kaiser Permanente, thank you so much for all your help.
Congratulations on your upcoming trip to Mexico. I love Mexico! I am so happy for you. Allow the anxiety to come and go. It’s natural and part of life and you can still enjoy your trip whether anxiety shows up or not.
You got this!!! So proud of you
I have had OCD since I was a kid. Thanks for posting these videos
You’re welcome. ❤️
This was very insightful! Tysm for sharing your knowledge!
Glad it was helpful! ❤️
Hello!
Thank you very much for this new video and also for those links 🙂
I'm still determined to overcome agoraphobia and panic disorder. Sometimes I'm not motivated to do exposures because I don't like the neighborhood where I live. But no one is going to do those exposures for me. I have to force myself sometimes. This video gives me hope. Thanks again!
I am so glad it gives you hope. Exposures are difficult because you have to be willing to step into the fear. Keep reminding yourself that you are working on tolerating the symptoms but under your control.
Hello!
Thank you for those words!
I wish i have a mom like you, my mom always said my agoraphobia is fake. She said i just want attention, i also just get kick out from my mom house 3 weeks ago. I’m move into my cousin house right now for a while. Im lost & so depressed right now 😢. I wish god can take me right now
I am so sorry. Sending you a hug, support and compassion for what you are going through.
I am committed to do this, this type of insight has helped with my OCD but with agoraphobia I suffer nausea everytime I go outside and it isn't easy because I'm also emetophobic...
Thank you so much for these videos!
You are not alone. I saw your comment and wanted to let you know that I have a new recovery program for people with agoraphobia available tomorrow. And I cover how to treat emetophobia in that program called, Power Over Agoraphobia. Recovery is a bit more complicated with emetophobia, but very possible. If you want to learn more about my program, go to paigepradko.com and sign up for my newsletter. I will then send you information tomorrow.
Aloha. I think most of my fear and anxiety stems from a feeling that I don't belong on this planet. My spirit feels like it's from another realm. I think my body sensations are a rejection of the chemistry of this planet. I feel so bad for suffering people and animals. I don't understand why people do the things they do when it doesn't serve them. I'm sure that I was put here to experience what it means to be human but I don't like it much.
You are a sensitive and compassionate person, Patricia. Maybe you are here because the planet needs more people like you.❤️
Something that I don't hear discussed at all is fear of... the mail. I have it and I believe a friend of mine does. It's just everyday not know what could show up. And then when I do get mail that gives me anxiety it gets piled under something else. Guess this falls under procrastination too but mail never used to give me anxiety the way it does these days. My anxiety developed during lockdown and just seems to keep spreading to new areas of my life.
I wonder how common a fear of mail is. I can understand the fear of receiving bills. But, it sounds like it is a fear of the unknown, if I am understanding you.
Hi Paige ! Hope you’re having a wonderful day. Thank you for all your time and support for all of us that really need it daily. I wish I could get about 20 in person sessions in with you. God bless you ❤ chris
Thank you, Chris. I appreciate it. ❤️
My phobia is not falling asleep. Is every night I strugle exposure therapy?
I have agoraphobia for 8 years and been having pvcs and pacs svt an vtach my dr caught with a zio monitor i cant leave to see the cardiologist and dont no what to do
Hi Jason. All of what you have mentioned are arrhythmias. PVCs and PACS are common and often considered normal. I am not a physician, but have worked with people with these conditions that can be exacerbated by stress and anxiety. The vtach does have to be checked out by a cardiologist and you do need to do that. If you had a broken leg, you would need to take care of that even if you have agoraphobia. You will have to see a cardiologist even having agoraphobia. Explain agoraphobia to the office staff and perhaps they can make certain accommodations for your appointment like having you come in as the first patient of the day, or the last one so that you would not be required to wait in the waiting room too long.
I have phobia elevator i go everyday in elevator but i m scared if elevator stop then what will happend also i m scared going to shoping mall hospitals where i cannot find exit
I’m sorry you are dealing with those fears. The only way is to move towards the fear and keep practicing your exposures. You are likely practicing safety and avoidance behaviors and those are keeping your brain convinced that you are in danger.