u/dismayed_throwaway

I’m just curious how old most people here are. From the posts I’ve seen, it seems like most people are older, so I was wondering if there are younger people here dealing with agoraphobia too

I feel like this experience can be really different in your late teens/early 20s compared to being older. Many people my age aren’t even working yet and are still living with their parents so the circumstances can be pretty different. I also think when you’re younger, there’s a lot more expectation to be out working, socializing, etc. compared to when you’re older.

I’m wondering if anyone else is going through something similar because I honestly don’t know what to do anymore.

I’ve spent the last several years extremely sedentary because of severe depression and agoraphobia. I basically stopped moving and stopped leaving the house, and over time it feels like I completely destroyed my physical health.

I’ve lost a lot of muscle and strength, have really concerning circulation issues, basically no stamina, and it feels like my heart and lungs have gotten significantly weaker. I’m so physically deconditioned now that it’s essentially disabled me, and my agoraphobia is so bad that I barely step outside.

It’s this cycle where my mental health caused the inactivity, the inactivity caused my physical health to deteriorate, and now being physically weak makes the agoraphobia and everything else even worse.

I’m mainly hoping to find other people who are currently going through this, especially anyone who has been stuck at home for years, become severely deconditioned, and feels like their physical health has deteriorated along with their mental health. I’d also really like to hear from people who have been through it and started recovering, but I’m mostly looking for people who actually understand what it’s like to be in this situation right now.

I’m scared that I’ve done permanent damage and feel pretty alone in this. It would be nice to talk to people who get it.