Lifestyle Changes

One of the important things in treating agoraphobia is physical and emotion health. The stronger you are mentally and physically, the better equipped you will be to deal with panic attacks.

Diet
Eat regularly and healthily, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Don’t skip meals, this will deplete your body's energy.
Stay away from too much junk food and caffeine, which stimulate or aggravate your system.

Vitamins
Vitamin supplements can be of great assistance to the poor worn out nervous system,
*Vit B1 (thiamine)
Helps the nervous system to function properly
*Vit B2 (riboflavin)
Helps the body cells to use oxygen
*Vit B6 (pyridoxine)
Helps the nervous system and red blood cells.
*Vit B12
Helps the nervous system
*Biotin
Helps the circulatory system
*Folic Acid
For the production of red blood cells.

These are just some of the vitamins needed to ensure good health. A vitamin B formula can be of fantastic help to
assist the treatment of agoraphobia. Even better change your diet to accommodate healthy eating habits.

Sleep
Good sleeping habits help a great deal, however insomnia can be very prevalent. When you do find yourself having
difficulty sleeping, don’t lay there in bed tossing and turning getting frustrated. Get up for a while, have a healthy snack, read a little. Then try again later. Also helpful is to have a good routine before settling to bed. Turn off the television a good spell before going to bed and enjoy the quiet, read, listen to some nice music. Being properly rested assists in the recovery of agoraphobia.

Taking your time
Don’t rush from task to task. Learn to slow your pace. Walk slowly and with relaxed limbs, don’t force yourself to
overdo things, there is very little that is as important as getting better. Take the time to enjoy what you do. Learn not to rush.

Relaxation/meditation
Find the time to take time out for yourself each day. This could be something as simple as watching the sunset each evening or deep relaxation or advanced meditation techniques, taking a swim. What you do doesn’t matter, so long as you allow your over worked brain and nerves to wind down a little. You have to give your body an opportunity to relax. Doing so helps it to function normally again. This is helpful whether you are in a total extreme anxiety state and unable to cope, or if you are nearly recovered.

Staying Positive
Yes , I am going to start talking about positive affirmations. But they do help. Getting on a feeling sorry for yourself bent may be very satisfying for a while, but it doesn’t do much to get you back on your feet and in control really. Being self indulgent and woeful can be wonderful therapy for an hour or so, but after you have got it out of your system be grateful for what you have. Love what you do have and enjoy it. Laugh, releases wonderful healing
endorphins. Read positive literature, enjoy the world. It does help overall you know.

Finding others
No matter how often you may read in books or hear professionals tell you that you can recover, it can be difficult to believe at times. Find other agoraphobics, recovered and still suffering. Listening to a recovered agoraphobic tell you just how rotten things were for them and seeing how happy they are now shows you just what you can do. It will prove to you that you can get your life back. It can sometimes feel to the sufferer that they must be the only one in the world to have these feelings. Getting in touch with others can make you feel more normal again, and make you realise that you are not going insane after all.

If you have trouble finding other agoraphobics please feel free to contact us at Agoraphobia Australia and we can put you in touch with others or alternatively you may wish to join our email discussion group.

Gaining peace from our frayed nerves means changing a great deal of our habits and thought patterns. The benefits from doing so has benefits for every aspect of our life, not just our recovery.

Becki