Tiffany, The answer to your question is "yes"! Have you heard of exposure work? In order to do exposure work you have to face some fear - but not too much at once! If you try something that is too hard, you may not notice a drop in your fear unless you stay in the situation for a long, long time. You definitely want to try to stay in the situation until your fear goes down, at least a bit. If you can't, or if your fear does not go down, you may have picked something that is just too hard. In that case, try something a little easier. For a detailed explanation of how exposure therapy is supposed to work, read over our Free Panic Program. Session 4 deals with exposure therapy. [u]Here are some important basics to keep in mind:[/u] 1. Doing exposure work is hard. We hope that the support group will help make doing exposure work a bit easier. 2. Learning how to do exposure work isn't easy either. It takes time to figure out what works for you. It takes time to figure out what causes you some anxiety but not too much. Again, we hope that people use the support group to help each other figure out how to do this. 3. Exposure work is not the same as "Just Doing It". The key difference is that exposure exercises are planned in advance and exposure exercises are designed to make you somewhat anxious but not too anxious. Also in exposure work you stay in the situation long enough or repeat the exposure exercise often enough to experience a decrease in fear. When people "Just Do It" they tend to get in and out of the situation as quickly as possible. As a result, they never experience a decrease in fear, and so they never unlearn their anxiety. Exposure therapy and medication work. However, it often takes a long time to make exposure work or figure out what the right medication for you is. Even if exposure and medication aren't working for you right now, some good social support, including support groups, can help people experiencing bad times get through until the wind changes. Before getting started with our program and exposure therapy discuss them with your doctor. It is always safe to visit your family doctor before starting any type of programs or therapies. Please keep in touch and good luck :)! Melanie _________________________

Hi Tiff, Believe me, I sympathise €“ getting out of the house is a nightmare. Like you I have good days and bad days, though why one should be worse than the next I€™m none too sure. One thing I do know, I€™m far less able to cope if I€™m not sleeping well. Tiredness and exhaustion are a killer. So for the last few months I€™ve been taking Xanax before going to bed and for me it€™s worked well, suppressing the anxiety enough for me to fall asleep, without leaving me stodgy the following morning. For me it€™s going out alone that€™s the biggest problem. None of my friends know what I go through, only my husband, but even so, having someone along eases the anxiety. I still avoid it like crazy though, and even when I know there€™s no alternative, keep putting it off to the last moment - which is stupid, because the more you delay, the more the anxiety rockets! In order to get out the door I have to psych myself up, just like a player before a match. Often I talk to myself out loud €“ €˜You can do it! You€™ll be fine!€ stuff like that €“ and eventually take a deep breath and go for it. But even when walking to my car I€™m half hoping it won€™t start so I€™ve got an excuse to go back in. Another trick is, if it€™s something like shopping, don€™t plan on doing too much. Visiting one or two stores is far less daunting than visiting six, and you won€™t have to be out half as long. I know that means going through the whole ordeal again to get to the others, but at least this way you€™ll have succeeded in what you set out to do. Two achievements in fact €“ don€™t forget getting out the door in the first place! And who knows? You might find when you€™ve visited those two stores, you feel so good about yourself you€™ll feel like tackling a third. That€™s happened to me before now. Oh, and while you€™re out, buy yourself a treat, even if it€™s only a bar of chocolate. If you€™ve got that far you deserve it!! Best of luck, Henna

I used to be so bad I coulden't go to the letter box, nor could I be alone or could have "strangers" in the house. I got over it the worst of it anyways, I still have to manage with my agoraphobia, anyway...all I'd do is walk as far as I could each day, with my discman, it helped me, but also having family and friends, preferbly a best friend is great, if they ask you to go somewhere, not to far...don't think just say yes, this approach works for me, although I'm not completely better, I'm well on my way. good luck Tom.

Hey Tif I used to feel that way... but now i look at it like an acting excercise. Sometimes if i am really nervous i do something so that i don't feel like it is me. I give myself an accent or (waiting in line sometimes gives me anxiety) i pretend to talk on my cel phone while i pay. Or I will bring a friend with me so that i feel distracted and less anxious. Thé later is actually what works best for me. I have a few good friends that know about my anxiety and don't mind coming along with me if they can. And they usually make some good jokes about it which makes me laugh and feel a little better... my favortie was at the grocery store the other day "Watch out Katie, you wouldn't want to freak out and fall on the small child" it made me laugh and calmed me down... so my advice keep yourself busy, with more then one task when you are out so that you don't focus on the symtoms of panic hope this helps katie

Okay got a question. Does anyone have a hard time leaving the house cause of the panic attacks? I tell yeah what I know i got to start doing it but everytime i think of leaving I get very very anxious, in Dec i was able to at least drive to my Ma's house, but now I cant even do that. Can someone give me some good advice as to what they do when they have to go somewhere. Some days i feel like i can get in my truck and go, and all i end up doing is driving around the block and coming back home. I am so scared of the panic, today is bad day for me, woke up feeling great but then started thinking about going grocery shopping cause i am tired of getting my grocery's delivered from albertsons, and of course i got really nervous. I just wanted to know if anyone else has gone through this and how they over came this? Thanks, Tiff.