Have you always been afraid to leave the house or is it just post pandemic? We were all forced to stay home for a long time and learn to like it and function. Agoraphobia is that fear of going out, fear of not being able to escape when you go out. Dr. B here with our series on demystifying the DSM and we're in the anxiety disorder categories and today we're going to talk about agoraphobia.

Oftentimes someone with agoraphobia experiences panic level anxiety when they are trying to do very specific things. For someone with agoraphobia, the core problem is a fear that they're not going to be able to escape.

So, in counseling we would really try to dig deeper than that, right? In the Thought Map, we might say, okay, we know that you have a fear of not being able to escape, but name a time when you weren't able to escape and tell me what happened, right?  And we would really keep asking and changing the questions if it doesn't come up right away, right?

One of my pet peeves in mental health in general is someone owning a diagnosis. Oh, I can't do that, I have agoraphobia. I will continue to challenge anybody that is a functional limitation. This is a symptom that you are dealing with. You can treat your agoraphobia. You can have insight into why you're experiencing those symptoms. You can map that out. You can find the core connections. If there's trauma, you can process and move forward from that.

Okay, and they're still very clear biochemical changes that happen in the brain that exhibit symptoms of any of these disorders, right? So, considering medication, if for any of you where this is a functional impairment, but what I challenge each and every one of you is not to own that. You are not agoraphobic. That is not who you are. It is a symptom which you are exhibiting.

Dr. Cristi Bundukamara, Ed.D, PMHNP-BC --- A Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and a Doctor of Healthcare Education has experienced unimaginable trials that have caused many feelings such as depression, anxiety, anger, & overwhelming stress. 
However, she has developed a new pathway to becoming Mentally Strong & Choosing to be Happy.  With purpose, Dr. B has developed the phases that were refined within the Mentally STRONG Method that she created and wants to share with you.

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