According to the Mayo Clinic, “Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder in which you fear and avoid places or situations that might cause you to panic and make you feel trapped, helpless or embarrassed. You fear an actual or anticipated situation, such as using public transportation, being in open or enclosed spaces, standing in line, or being in a crowd. It’s much more than just being afraid of open spaces.”
I’ve helped many people overcome this fear. For the purpose of this article, I want to focus on one woman specifically. We’ll call her Jane (that is not her real name).
Agoraphobia – The Fear Of What Other People Think
When you look to the root cause of agoraphobia, it boils down to the fear of what other people think, which is by far the most limiting fear. Worrying what others think can hold you back from even trying to do what you want to do.
My client Jane had some major health problems, and she didn’t feel like the same woman she had always been. Jane had reached the point where she did not want to socialize with anyone at all. Maybe she thought everyone was going to laugh at her or think less of her? She lost friends because she never went out with them. And she was just stuck in her house, not ever wanting to leave.
When she first came to see me she was definitely hesitant about leaving her house, but she was determined to overcome agoraphobia. Hypnosis is the ideal way to help get your confidence back. Improving her confidence and helping her see the truth were the most important things I wanted to focus on first.
She enjoyed the hypnosis. And she was feeling much better about herself by the time she came back for her second session. But she was still not where she wanted to be. I explained to her that this wouldn’t be solved overnight. And how important it was for her to be patient and kind to herself and to not be hard on herself or beat herself up. What had been bothering her for years could not be overcome in one week. But se was starting to see the truth about herself again.
See The Truth – And Stop Believing The Lies
Jane is an intelligent, well-spoken, educated and charming woman. She had convinced herself that no one would like her anymore. Even though she was the one lying to herself, these deceptions only added to her agoraphobia.
As she got better and better, we determined that it would be best if she got back out into the world in baby steps. I told her to go to drive through restaurants so she could just say ‘Hello’ and ‘Have a good day…’ without having to leave the security of her car. She did this for awhile and her confidence continued to improve. She was feeling better about herself and was looking forward to socializing with other people.
Soon, she was sitting down in restaurants and going to stores. Eventually, she was able to socialize with her friends again. She was back to being her real self again!! And she saw the truth about herself and was not believing the lies. She was able to overcome the agoraphobia and the fear of what other people might be thinking about her. I’m so proud of her!
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