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in [Agoraphobia]
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From: Bowcatz on 29 Oct 2006 23:26 Agoraphobia is an emotional response to overloading the mind which examines most of the thoughts that enter it. Agoraphobia is not a stand alone phobia--not like a fear of bugs and only bugs. It's a blend of extreme thought produced stressors that haven't been dealt with successfully. It's not outside that you are afraid of. It's the thought of going outside. A thought. A simple thought. The thought of going outside terrifies you. Just a simple thought and any supporting thoughts that keep you inline with the final thought blend of something like, "Go outside and you'll get hurt." Well, no. Not exactly. That's a lie. Why? Because I go outside often and rarely get hurt unless I do something careless and hurt myself. A phobia isn't so much object based as it is the supporting thought that you can't get away from the object of your fear. My mom's driver has a phobia of cats. She gets hysterical if she's in close company of cats. It's not the cat that terrifies her. It is the thought that she can't get away from the cat that produces her anxiety. It's a thought. It's only a thought. Write it down and look at it. "I am afraid of cats." Really? Are you really afraid of cats? Understand what I am typing here? You need to poke your belief system often with the sharp stick of truth. You need to challenge that thought and any supporting thoughts that keep you afraid of the original thought and the supporting thoughts. The thoughts that you believe and act on are making it difficult for you to go outside and enjoy life. You know deep down that there is nothing out there to be afraid of, but something in your psyche tells you it is and you act on that belief. Challenge, challenge, challenge. Write down the thoughts that keep you from enjoying the outside and poke at them. Prove to the thoughts that they are lies. I hope this helps.
From: Jessica Marie on 30 Oct 2006 10:58 My Dearest Bowcatz: If the "cure" is as simple as what you describe as a "mind set".....then why are YOU in this group? Simple curiousity, mind you. Jessica Marie Bowcatz wrote: > Agoraphobia is an emotional response to overloading the mind which examines > most of the thoughts that enter it. Agoraphobia is not a stand alone > phobia--not like a fear of bugs and only bugs. It's a blend of extreme > thought produced stressors that haven't been dealt with successfully. It's > not outside that you are afraid of. It's the thought of going outside. A > thought. A simple thought. The thought of going outside terrifies you. Just > a simple thought and any supporting thoughts that keep you inline with the > final thought blend of something like, "Go outside and you'll get hurt." > Well, no. Not exactly. That's a lie. Why? Because I go outside often and > rarely get hurt unless I do something careless and hurt myself. > > A phobia isn't so much object based as it is the supporting thought that > you can't get away from the object of your fear. My mom's driver has a > phobia of cats. She gets hysterical if she's in close company of cats. It's > not the cat that terrifies her. It is the thought that she can't get away > from the cat that produces her anxiety. > > It's a thought. It's only a thought. Write it down and look at it. "I am > afraid of cats." Really? Are you really afraid of cats? Understand what I > am typing here? > > You need to poke your belief system often with the sharp stick of truth. You > need to challenge that thought and any supporting thoughts that keep you > afraid of the original thought and the supporting thoughts. The thoughts > that you believe and act on are making it difficult for you to go outside > and enjoy life. You know deep down that there is nothing out there to be > afraid of, but something in your psyche tells you it is and you act on that > belief. Challenge, challenge, challenge. Write down the thoughts that keep > you from enjoying the outside and poke at them. Prove to the thoughts that > they are lies. > > I hope this helps.
From: Mark Mandell on 5 Nov 2006 19:38 "Bowcatz" <bowhunter154(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:kaf1h.25341$GR2.8044(a)tornado.texas.rr.com... > Agoraphobia is an emotional response to overloading the mind which > examines most of the thoughts that enter it. Agoraphobia is not a stand > alone phobia--not like a fear of bugs and only bugs. It's a blend of > extreme thought produced stressors that haven't been dealt with > successfully. It's not outside that you are afraid of. It's the thought of > going outside. A thought. A simple thought. The thought of going outside > terrifies you. Just a simple thought and any supporting thoughts that keep > you inline with the final thought blend of something like, "Go outside and > you'll get hurt." Well, no. Not exactly. That's a lie. Why? Because I go > outside often and rarely get hurt unless I do something careless and hurt > myself. > > A phobia isn't so much object based as it is the supporting thought that > you can't get away from the object of your fear. My mom's driver has a > phobia of cats. She gets hysterical if she's in close company of cats. > It's not the cat that terrifies her. It is the thought that she can't get > away from the cat that produces her anxiety. > > It's a thought. It's only a thought. Write it down and look at it. "I am > afraid of cats." Really? Are you really afraid of cats? Understand what I > am typing here? > > You need to poke your belief system often with the sharp stick of truth. > You need to challenge that thought and any supporting thoughts that keep > you afraid of the original thought and the supporting thoughts. The > thoughts that you believe and act on are making it difficult for you to go > outside and enjoy life. You know deep down that there is nothing out there > to be afraid of, but something in your psyche tells you it is and you act > on that belief. Challenge, challenge, challenge. Write down the thoughts > that keep you from enjoying the outside and poke at them. Prove to the > thoughts that they are lies. > > I hope this helps. Excellent analysis of the issue. In particular, it's critical to understand that it's the FEAR INDUCED THOUGHTS which keep the agoraphobic imprisoned with the notion that he/she is trapped helplessly in their predicament. So the REAL solution is to undo the power one's thoughts has over one's behavior.
From: Bowcatz on 5 Nov 2006 22:12 Nothing is either good or bad. It's thinking that makes it so. Shakespeare
From: Bowcatz on 5 Nov 2006 22:20
I'm here because of previous messages (now deleted) from people that sounded so afraid to get out of their homes much less actually got out and live. I felt sorry for these folk and offered some advice that I've learned from nearly half a century of living around all kinds of people (sane and some obviously not). It's not the thing you are afraid of. No cat. No airplane. No shopping center. It's the thoughts you have about the thing that frightens you. You tag these thoughts as true and act on them and keep yourself down in the shadows of a half-life. Poke at your thoughts. Question their authenticity now and often. Fear of pain and death comes up a lot with people who suffer with agoraphobia. By the way, agoraphobia is a culmination of stressors. One unresolved stressor piled on top of another. None are handled correctly and then you get to the point where you are suffering from an emotional situation called agoraphobia. It takes a lot of homework to knock down the pile of stressors into a manageable one, but it can be done. And you can do it, if you want to. Take one little stressor and solve it. Learn from what you did to solve that stressor and move on to the next. Your life and sense of contentment makes it worth the work. |