Does Having Agoraphobia Mean You Miss out on Life?

Does Having Agoraphobia Mean You Miss out on Life?

When you move somewhere for a set amount of time it’s typical to have a strong desire to explore the area constantly.  We’ve only got 13 months in Germany so of course we want to make the most of it.  At the same time, I have some intense anxiety issues that hold me back from making this experience all that it can be. In the first few weeks that we lived here I kept thinking that this opportunity should have […]

Groceries, Anxiety, and a Reason to Do It Again.

Anxiety at the Grocery Store.

Recently Germans celebrated the 25th German Unity Day, which is a day chosen to commemorate the Berlin wall coming down and the reunification of Germany.  There are a lot of holidays in this country and we enjoy learning about the history behind each one.  This holiday fell on a Saturday, which meant all the stores would be closed that day in addition to normally being closed on Sunday. We realized this shortly before the weekend, so we went out in […]

Education

Misconceptions About Agoraphobia.

Did you know that Paula Deen suffered from panic attacks and agoraphobia for two decades?  Since she had such difficulties leaving home, she spent a lot of time cooking southern food for her family.   The kitchen was a safe place for her and focusing on meals helped her to alleviate feelings of panic. Paula grew up in a time when this disorder was not well understood and she suffered for it – she was even called a brat by her […]

door handle

13 Ways You Can Battle Agoraphobia.

I’ve always been a bit reluctant about having to run errands, but this year I reached a place where my inability to leave home was creating serious problems in my life. I was a bit stunned to find myself talking to my therapist, the one I had sought out for grief counseling, about this new phrase I had learned: agoraphobia. I shared about it on the blog for the first time recently. My husband and I tried (with little success) […]

Trying to Move When You Have Anxiety.

Our week leading up to the big move was a stressful one.  We weren’t just moving our things from one location to another – most of them were heading into storage for more than a year.  Only 140 lbs. of our belongings were shipped to Germany, and most of that was clothing.  I felt like I was splurging when I chose to ship my favorite fruit bowl, coffee cup, and nice paring knives.  This is supposed to be our year of […]