“Can agoraphobia be cured?”

“Will I ever be able to get completely over it?”

“Will I ever live a normal life again?”

Though it exists in many forms, this is the number one question I have received from visitors to the Agoraphobia Help website. And the answer to this question is yes!

Agoraphobia CAN be completely cured and you CAN get completely over it. I am living proof of this.

Agoraphobia is highly treatable because it is not a mental illness. Anxiety disorders and phobias, of which agoraphobia is both, consist of learned thoughts and behaviors. The good thing about learnd thoughts and behaviors is that you can unlearn them.

I am not saying that it’s easy to unlearn panic or irrational fear, but it can be done if you do the right things consistently over time.

If you have agoraphobia can lead a normal life again. In fact, research says that about 90% of people who practice cognitive-beavioral therapy (CBT) on a consistent basis either recover from agoraphobia completely or have a significant reduction in symptoms.

Today, I emailed a survey to everyone on my list asking this question:

“What is Your Biggest Question About Agoraphobia?”

I had about 45 responses within one hour, and the questions keep coming in. I want to answer as many or all of the questions that I can - and here are the ways I am going to do it:

1. Through the weekly Voice of Hope Messages (sent each Friday people on my mailing lists).

2. In the monthly Agoraphobia Report Newsletters.

3. Through regular posts on this blog.

4. During upcoming telephone seminars.

I am going to be offering telephone seminars very soon, to give you a chance to get on the phone with me and ask questions. These teleseminars will also give me the chance to go deeper and share specific, step-by-step details about agoraphobia recovery for those who sign up.

If you sign up for the Agoraphobia Report Newsletter, you will be notified of all the above. Also, if you have a question about agoraphobia click on “Questions?” and submit it. I will do my best to respond.

I care about your recovery from agoraphobia.

Did you know that 4 out of every 5 people diagnosed with agoraphobia are female?

That doesn’t necessarily mean that more women than men actually HAVE agoraphobia, but women are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed.

Researchers have explored some possible explanations for this phenomenon and I just posted an article that discusses them.

To read more about why more women are diagnosed with agoraphobia, look in the articles section of this website under “Causes and Development.”

My article is called “Is Agoraphobia a Women’s Disease?”

In my last post, I wrote about the value of facing your fears out of order instead of creating the tradiitonal a “Fear Heirarchy” and working on overcoming your fears from least to greatest.

Now I am going to pass on another agoraphobia recovery tip from anxiety disorder expert, Dr. Reid Wilson - change the conditions under which you practice desensitization.

If you usually practice in the morning when it is light outside, try practicing at night after dark.

If you usually plan your practice sessions far in advance, try practicing spontaneously.

Try practicing in both cold and warm weather. Practice with people sometimes, and at other times, alone.

You get the idea, the more you mix up your desensitization practice, the more your practice will model real life, and the more likely you will be to prepare yourself for unexpected challenges that come your way.