Agoraphobia is the fear of going outside, that is, the fear that a person experiences when he thinks that something terrible can happen to him if he is outside or in a place where he is not safe. The person is extremely unaware of the situation, starts worrying before going outside and is focused only on that worry. Thoughts run through her head that something bad will happen while she is out, that there will be no one to help her, what if she faints, what if someone laughs at her, will someone think she is crazy, etc.
The core is in that beginning of a thought that develops. Our attention has glued itself to the problem and then we only think negatively about that situation. Every time a person goes outside, he experiences fear and thus begins to create the belief that it is real as he initially thinks. Unconsciously, a pattern is created and it starts to work more and more. If a person experiences some discomfort, then he convinces himself even more that he is not allowed to go outside. I’m telling you all this from experience.
In a state of intense fear outside, short-term depersonalization and derealization can very often occur. These are very unpleasant feelings, those are our shields from fear. When our brain overheats, it experiences depersonalization and derealization in order not to damage itself with the shock that occurs at that moment. When something terrible happens outside, we turn our focus to these symptoms. A person can overcome the situation more easily. I used to start running to the emergency because I was sure I was going to die. There was a period of my life when I went there all the time and everyone already knew me. I felt unprepared for the things that were happening in my life and I looked to someone for security. In the case of agoraphobia, protection is most often sought in the emergency, with a person or in one’s own home. In this way, we enter more and more into the mouse hole, which is a mental trick that does us no good. It starts the moment we blink that we should expect something bad outside. We listen to ourselves, we don’t feel well and suddenly we get hit by an attack. We can’t go out without medicine, we have to go out with someone because we can’t be alone…
When I went to Munich alone for a day, chaos happened to me. Returning from a village to the city, when the bus entered Munich, I began to feel fear and discomfort. I go out into the street, I go to eat, and my fear increases because I am alone. What if I collapse, I don’t know German, how will I explain to someone… So much fuss in my body, my thoughts are only about death and there is no other option. At that moment, I decided to apply an exercise that solved the problem in five minutes.
When you decide to go outside, tell yourself that you are going without medicine and a friend, and that you will not run to the emergency. Decide to walk five minutes one way. If you can’t, then a minute. Being aware of that moment is important because you are so directly connected to influencing the subconscious. Do not use the escape option at all, the brain must not have the option to save itself. Then you can say to yourself, “Look, I succeeded!” The next day, go for ten minutes, then fifteen, etc. It is a process and it cannot just disappear, just as it could not just come. First you started to feel uncomfortable, and eventually you ended up inside the four walls.
It looks like this: tell yourself that you have decided to go out to hell, in which you will try to be braver. Don’t expect too much from yourself, just a little more courage, and a little more the next day. If you step up a little every day, you won’t even know when you’ve stopped being afraid. This is very simple and possible. Now I enjoy traveling, and I want you all to stop being afraid. Build up gradually and be conscious as you do so. Every time you will tell yourself that you are brave, after a hundred days you can walk alone for a hundred minutes. You will start to believe in yourself.
