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 have always been afraid of people.. I remember being 6 years old and sitting alone in a corner at school, during lunch break, cause I was afraid of the other kids .. I went through 12 years of school without making friends, without talking to anyone, always walking around alone because I was just too afraid to say anything.. in my head, people were always talking about me, laughing at me, judging me..
As an adult, there was a period when I was employed that my brother had to walk with me to work and then pick me up and bring me home again, all of this just cause I was too scared to walk alone and be around other people alone.. it was terrifying.. if I really had to go somewhere alone I would hide behind my sunglasses, headphones in my head and walk as fast as I could.. so I wouldn't hear anything and no one would see my scared eyes when looking at me ..
I know this has to do with low self esteem and confidence.. I couldn't go to the supermarket cause I was afraid to talk to people and ask what I needed, I couldn't enter a store cause I was scared of the poor lady asking me if I needed help..
And this went on for years and years, I could only talk to my family and people online, cause it's easy to hide behind a computer screen..
As an adult, there was a period when I was employed that my brother had to walk with me to work and then pick me up and bring me home again, all of this just cause I was too scared to walk alone and be around other people alone.. it was terrifying.. if I really had to go somewhere alone I would hide behind my sunglasses, headphones in my head and walk as fast as I could.. so I wouldn't hear anything and no one would see my scared eyes when looking at me ..
I know this has to do with low self esteem and confidence.. I couldn't go to the supermarket cause I was afraid to talk to people and ask what I needed, I couldn't enter a store cause I was scared of the poor lady asking me if I needed help..
And this went on for years and years, I could only talk to my family and people online, cause it's easy to hide behind a computer screen..
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Do you think anxiety is genetic or comes from your environment? What are your thoughts?
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Many of you know Mr K told me to "shut your mouth" in March 2025 when we took a road trip to Alpena Michigan. Since that time, we have had lots of ups and downs but I have never intentionally hurt Mr K in anyway. And when we first started dating in 2024 he let me know, although he is an engineer by degree, he has an extremely low EQ. Overall, he is ok (not off the charts nice like other guys in...
I already went to the beach alone twice.. ok didn't stay long, and was terrified but I managed to do it .. I went to the mall alone, I went to the cinema alone.. and probably the biggest improvement I made was to leave my country and go visit friends in another country.. i was terrified, as I needed 3 flights just to get there, and I would be doing it alone.. but afterwards I felt so proud of myself, that I was able to go through all this and not break down.. airplanes, airports, secutiry, luggage check, a new country, different language, meet online friends I hadn't seen before.. and just as my friend from there told me, "you did this, you can do anything in the world that you want, you just gotta believe in yourself"