Does anyone have a non agoraphobia phobia that has stopped them going out??

[heather_85]

Hello this might seem a confusing question but has anyone got a phobia that makes them avoid going out that isnt agoraphobia?
I have a severe dog phobia that has got so bad i dont go out at all other than if i get a taxi or a lift off a family member to take me door to door. i can not walk any where in case of the fear of seeing a dog. this is getting very difficult for me as i have a daughter who's nearly 7 and i can not take her to school, take her to the park or anything, it is very upsetting when once she came home and said that one of the kids at school thought that she didnt have a mum. i have had a couple of different cognitive behavioral therapy courses but none that had any affect as they weren't long enough and the therapist didnt really go the route i wanted to go down. i have recently started to get a little help from my sister who has just got a puppy, i have use the strategies that were in a phobia book that i got and im doing small steps to being able to be near the dog, i have only been to do this 3 times but next time i am hoping to be able to stand next to the dog outside while its on the lead. i know i am a long way away to overcoming my phobia but it is progress.
if anyone has got a phobia doesnt have to be a dog phobia like mine but has preventing them from going out normally please get in touch, it would be great to hear from others with similar situations because can get very lonely not having people who truely understand how it feels to feel trapped by a horrible phobia.
thank you for reading.

heather (cheshire,england)

[silverlily]

I have a lot of health problems that keep me at home, mostly a digestive disorder. In the past I thought what I had was agoraphobia since I am housebound but I'm not sure anymore. I don't fear panic attacks or have them. I don't really know what I fear, but I just have a general feeling of fear or that the world isn't good, filled with dangers. I have a fear of dogs too that keeps me inside, and even if I wanted to take a walk on a day where my health is okay, I fear running into a dog. I can't even sit in my yard for very long, or not far from my house, without thinking a dog might come. I also have a fear of people coming over and seeing me, might be because of social anxiety, but it kind of doesn't make sense because my social anxiety has been down, maybe its some sort of depression? I don't know, I just avoid a lot. I fear death too and getting hurt and being stuck. And as for my digestive disorder, I fear that making me sick when I'm away from my house.

[Wiggy]

Hi Heather,

I have a phobia that keeps me from going out. I have a blood and contamination phobia and general anxiety triggered by these thoughts. I dont walk outside (except to get to the car) because i am afraid there might be blood on the ground. I'm ok in the car, but getting from the hoise to the car is awful, thinking something might blow onto me or something nasty might be on the ground. Then of course theres the possibility of encountering blood anywhere at any time. Its the unknown possible surprise encounter factor that keeps me isolated. Then when i get home i have to spend about 2.5 - 3 hours washing my hands and getting undressed etc. And getting ready to go out causes so much anxiety it just doesnt seem worth the effort.

[stone9091]

wao nice information ........

[cerise]

omg heather I have the same!!! I mean i used to have agoraphobia before because I do suffer from depression and it comes and goes, but the main reason I don't go out the house on a normal day because I can go out the house even if I have panic attacks I can still go out and it doesn't make me that nervous...what makes me nervous is the thought of finding a dog on the street....yes i know it sounds stupid, I was attacked twice the same way, and it was a pretty scary experience for me since I was struggling with depression the first time it happened at least I was going through a clinical dep episode and I just went to the bank and was walking down the street when it happened. In my case I'm not scared of puppies (which is odd as well I know) I'm just scared of big dogs what's even more incredible is that I can see a big dog and not be scared and somehow know if that dog is older than x amount of months that make it older or younger... I just found this out a while back when at the pet store I went near a pretty big dog which was only 4 months old but for that type of dog since they grow pretty big he was huge but still a "baby" so to speak, and yet, I can be scared of smaller dogs that are older...it's a very weird thing though, but just in general I avoid going to the park or going out alone a lot of the things they recommend for relieving anxiety and depression like going out to take a walk in the park don't work for me because...I can't go alone to the park... just very silly I guess but so far no progress in that area...even thought about getting hypnotized...

[unicorndreamer]

Yes, but mostly only in late September and October. I have a phobia of skeletons, and so many of the Halloween decorations have those that I pretty much lock myself in my room and try never to leave, because I know that running into something somewhere is pretty much unavoidable. It was not as bad as a child, but it's gotten worse as I've grown up. I'm in college now, and I find myself taking alternate routes to places or avoiding areas in certain buildings or the building altogether when I know a Halloween decoration is up. I never go through the Anthropology department building for obvious reasons, and I avoid the biology floor of the science building.
I also try to avoid going grocery shopping in October, because the stores always have displays. Instead, in late September, I go and buy a month's worth of groceries and just freeze everything. I forgo fruit and fresh vegetables and instead rely on frozen things.
It drives me insane, and I hate having to shut down my life during October just because I can't handle a few Halloween decorations.