Hi Ocdgirl...I'm pretty sure several here can relate to you. I am limited in my travels as well. Sometimes it's worse than others. Just wanted you to know you're not alone. Unfortunately, I've been coming here and checking out this particular discussion board for awhile now and it doesn't seem very active. I found a chat room though..full of people with anxiety disorders....come check it out if you want...my name is EricaTN there...say hi..if you come..here's the link.....http://www.anxietyzone.com/chat/index.php

I use to be that bad. I'm not sure what happened but I just got so bored and fed up. My parents/family and friends are not supportive. So, I didn't have people come to me and help me. Not having people help me was what helped me step out of my comfort zone. I still have anxiety and try and get out of going places and doing things.

I can't talk to people who talk to me. It's like my jaw freezes/locks. I can think what to say and still stand to make eye contact but I just freeze.

Don't give up/get frustrated.... you will overcome this, there is a way out. You just have to let it become known to you.

I have been pretty much house bound for about 8 years. I have times that I can go to a grocery store or maybe a short drive, and in the past 8 years have been able to go out and visit people twice. I was a bit better when it first started - I could go to the doctors and my psych, but as time went on and the panic attacks got more severe when I went outside I just stopped trying. Lately I have been trying to push myself more, I am just afraid of having a really bad attack outside, which is what started the housebound stuff to begin with.

You are not alone.

Great advice from the previous posts:) Yes! I have to "FORCE" myself out of the house! Literally! It is like a war to do this! Somedays, even getting out of bed takes motivation, courage, etc....I could do nothing without the good LORD and the people on this site! Yes, you are not alone, but help is here!

yes, i can relate.

I drove less than 25 miles over the entire year. After my husband's death I noticed I began being targeted from coping with a disability illness and that never happened to me when my husband was alive. Just today I had to notify law enforcement from a stranger trying to gain access to my back yard repeatedly. I used to ride my mobility scooter around in my gardens until over time I was targeted from people putting it together that I was alone. It has been a Twilight Zone nightmare to mange but I am beginning to adapt and life is improving but I must remain hyper vigilant for my safety and that just seems to be my new norm any longer. It has all caused complex PTSD and the numbness shuts down the overwhelming feeling of stress when it gets to be too much to manage. As I continue to adapt and find ways to be more safe here I think I will once again feel more comfortable with life and work at expanding the horizons. I think a lot of it is just the crazy world we are all living in that just gets to us over time.

I can relate as although I'm not completely housebound ( I go to uni, work and do what I need to do) I don't do many social things and if I didn't have to I wouldn't work as I just get so anxious about it. I spend a lot of time at home too.

I know how you feel. I do not go outside that much and can not go that far from home. I can get the newspaper and sit outside. But not too long. I am not sure why I am scared to go outside. I get so nervous and scary. I do have a lot of panic attack. Those are not fun to have. It hard to fight panic attack. When I have them I cry and want to go home.we need more people to unstanding how we feel. Some people think it easy to go outside but for us it hard. They think we are be lazy and not want to do things outside.

I, too, was housebound....more specifically...bedridden. I could not put a foot on the floor without a major panic attack.
You are not alone in this. You CAN beat this.