Agoraphobia & Social Anxiety Support Group
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder, often precipitated by the fear of having a panic attack in a setting from which there is no easy means of escape. As a result, sufferers of agoraphobia may avoid public and/or unfamiliar places. In severe cases, the sufferer may become confined to their home, experiencing difficulty traveling from this "safe place."
I’ve developed this terrible issue with communication that’s been taxing on my health: I don’t know how to comfortably talk about my mental issues. I recently came out about having OCD to my dad, but when he asked for specifics on my symptoms, I immediately felt really embarrassed and uncomfortable about talking about it. This ended in my dad getting outright angry at me for my inability to communicate and his possibly not believing me. He only now knows anything about my symptoms because I forced myself to text him about it, which he didn’t like because it was isolating. Beyond the discomfort, I’ve also almost always found it difficult to articulate what a problem I’m suffering from might be. From when I was little failing to explain why I felt borderline depressed to my trying to tell my therapist what pressing issues I’m suffering from, I find it so hard to explain my problems that nobody ends up believing I truly have any. I theorize this is because I’ve gotten so used to joking about the worst parts of me that I’m no longer comfortable with directly facing these sorts of things–and my father’s horrible way of handling my ineptness, coupled with his constant misunderstandings of my vents even when I can communicate, doesn’t help. Even though I know what the problem might be, I have no idea how to find the solution–either that, or I’m too afraid to try it.
But I did get past that eventually, and I say this hopefully to give you hope- BY NO MEANS AM I BLAMING YOU (I capitalize that because I want to make sure you read it! I know I sometimes feel like people are blaming me for my feelings when they don’t intend to, so I just wanted to clarify <3). Maybe journaling would help, or other private ways of venting or even posting on DS could help you release these things, and a good therapist shouldn’t assume you even know what’s going on and if you do should be able to figure some of it out herself if you can’t verbalize it- not like reading your mind or anything, but just by learning about your situation and your cues she should have some idea at least what realm of feelings you’re dealing with. She should be asking questions to help make sense of it, even just simple yes and no questions to make things easier. Of course it’s not like she’s got powers or anything lol but she should try to help you through the process of communicating things, as well as she can. Not that it’s necessarily her fault if neither of you are
Able to work out what’s going on verbally- maybe she isn’t the right fit, or maybe it would be best to journal or write it down and share it with her, etc. Etc.
Regardless I believe you. For me therapeutic coping skills and things like DBT, CBT, and EBT can actually be enfuriating for me because of a trauma I experienced, but it can help some and in and of itself I think it could prove useful- if you’re interested and willing only. Otherwise medication can really help stabilize ones mood, they help me. Just never ever go off one cold turkey or quickly.