Agoraphobia

Many people think that agoraphobia is just a fear of going outside. But there’s more to it than this.

Agoraphobia can make it difficult to live your day-to-day life.

We’re here to help you understand agoraphobia, find ways to cope, and get support.

What is agoraphobia?

Agoraphobia is a fear of things that make it difficult for you to be outside. This might be because you’re afraid that something could go wrong. Or that you wouldn’t be able to escape or get help if something went wrong.

Because of this fear, those of us with agoraphobia will avoid these situations as much as possible.

Agoraphobia is a type of phobia. This means the fear you feel is much bigger than the actual risk of something bad happening to you.

It can include fear of:

Being in crowds
Using public transport
Being anywhere outside on your own
Being in certain buildings, like theatres or shops
Open spaces
Being too far away from home
Having panic attacks

You might have a fear of 1 of these things, or lots of them. Your agoraphobia might also be caused by fears not listed here.

If you live in an area that’s very dangerous, being anxious about going outside is very normal. In these situations, it might not be considered agoraphobia. A fear becomes a phobia when the anxiety you feel doesn’t match the risk of danger or harm.

Phobias, including agoraphobia, are a kind of anxiety disorder.

How does agoraphobia affect you?

Agoraphobia is a complex phobia. This is a kind of phobia that isn’t just focused on a specific thing, like spiders or flying. Complex phobias have a more complicated impact on your life. And can be hard to avoid.

The symptoms of agoraphobia are similar to symptoms of anxiety, panic attacks and other phobias. Not everyone will experience the same symptoms. But they can include:

A fast heartbeat
Feeling sick or being sick
Feeling very hot and sweaty
Breathing very fast
Feeling dizzy or faint
Ringing in your ears
Shaking or trembling
Chest pain
Digestive problems – like stomach aches or diarrhoea
Feeling like you’re losing control
Anxious and panicked thoughts – like worrying about what will happen, or what people will think of you
Feelings of dread – like something bad is going to happen to you

These symptoms will then impact the way you act. Many people think that if you have agoraphobia you can never leave the house. For some of us, this is true. But agoraphobia impacts everyone differently.

You might have some of these experiences:

Being able to go outside but not do certain things – like go to shops.
Only being able to go outside if someone is with you.
Being able to go outside alone, but feeling intense symptoms, like panic attacks – this might mean you only go outside when you absolutely have to.
Only being able to go outside in some situations – like certain times of day or year, or if you bring supplies to help if something bad happens.
Only be able to go outside if you don’t go too far from your home.
Not being able to go outside at all.

Agoraphobia can be very isolating. It might make you feel stressed, lonely, or depressed.

It can impact your day-to-day life. You might find it hard to do things like study, keep a job, or socialise with other people.

I used to travel around the world on my own but now walking to the end of the street feels harder than that. When I leave the house, I feel like I’m holding my breath – that there’s only so long I can tolerate it.

What causes agoraphobia?

There’s no 1 cause of agoraphobia. Everyone is different. And your agoraphobia might have been caused by more than 1 thing.

Because agoraphobia is a kind of anxiety disorder, the causes of anxiety can also be causes of agoraphobia. For example, other health problems, or genetic factors.

These causes might build up over time. This means agoraphobia might happen gradually. But it can also come on very suddenly.

These are some other causes of agoraphobia:

Panic disorder

Panic disorder is another type of anxiety disorder. It happens when you have a lot of panic attacks. Or if you become very worried about having panic attacks.

This might make you very anxious about doing things that cause panic attacks. Particularly if you tend to have them in places with lots of other people. Or if you worry you wouldn’t be able to stop them.

This can make you worried about going to certain places. Or doing things on your own. This is sometimes called avoidance. It might feel helpful, but it doesn't always help us in the long term. And it can lead to agoraphobia.

But not everyone with panic disorder has agoraphobia. And not everyone with agoraphobia has panic attacks or panic disorder.

The fear of losing control or experiencing a panic attack in public was paralysing.

Past experiences and trauma

You might have had a bad or traumatic experience that made you very afraid. You might have been harmed or seen someone harmed. Even if nothing physically happened to you, you may still have been very afraid.

These experiences can make us cautious about how we live our lives. Particularly if we didn’t get a lot of support to manage what happened. Or if it happened multiple times. We might be afraid of being in places similar to where these experiences happened. Even if these experiences are unlikely to happen again.

This might make it hard for you to go to certain places. And it might lead to agoraphobia.

See our pages on trauma for more information on the effects of trauma.

I became the target of relentless bullying. The constant torment left me feeling vulnerable and exposed, and I began to retreat into the safety of my own home.

How can I manage agoraphobia?

Living with agoraphobia can be very difficult. It might feel like it’s impossible to overcome. Or that you will never be able to change. But there are things you can do to help yourself overcome agoraphobia, or manage how it makes you feel.

Different things work for different people at different times. It’s OK if some of these tips don’t work for you.

Here are some things you could try to do:

Learn about your agoraphobia

Taking time to understand your agoraphobia can help you manage it. And help you have better control over your symptoms.

You could spend some time thinking about the situations that trigger your phobia. Think about how they make you feel physically. And what thoughts you have during them.

This can give you a starting point to try to address your phobia.

This can be very hard to do. Particularly if thinking about your triggers makes your agoraphobia symptoms very bad. Try and take things slowly.

If you can’t think of these things at all without getting distressed, a professional such as a GP or therapist might be able to help.

See our treatment for agoraphobia section for more information.

Learn how to manage panic attacks

If you experience panic attacks, it can help to learn how to manage them. This might help your agoraphobia as well.

See our information on panic attacks for tips.

Challenge your thoughts

Many people with agoraphobia have difficult thoughts and beliefs that make the phobia hard to overcome. You might think that:

Something bad will always happen to you
People are out to hurt you
People will laugh at you
You can predict the outcome of different situations – and that they will always be bad
You’re weak, or not strong enough to cope
You’re a failure or an embarrassment
Nowhere is safe

These thoughts can feel very true. Particularly if we’ve had them for a long time. But taking the time to challenge them can make a difference. It can train us to think less negatively. And make us feel less anxious.

You could try saying kind things about yourself. Or asking yourself whether you're thinking of the most likely scenario, or just the worst case.

Our how to manage anxiety and worry page has more information on challenging your thoughts and managing worry.

Take steps to build tolerance

One of the symptoms of agoraphobia is avoiding the situations that trigger your phobia. Or always needing to have something or someone with you to help you cope. These are called 'safety behaviours'. They can feel helpful, but they don’t address the cause of your phobia. And they can make it worse.

It can help to take small steps to build up tolerance to the things that trigger your phobia. This is called 'graded exposure'. You can make a list of small tasks that slowly build into bigger ones. The idea is to do each task a number of times until it doesn’t make you feel anxious anymore. Then move onto the next one.

Over time, many people find this approach helpful in overcoming agoraphobia. But it can be a hard process. It helps to reward yourself along the way. And be kind to yourself.

It might help if someone is with you while you start to build up tolerance. Once you feel comfortable doing these things with someone else, you can then try and do them on your own. This will help to stop the support from other people from becoming a safety behaviour.

We have information on how to help someone who has a phobia.

Some NHS trusts have workbooks you can download to help you do graded exposure. You can find these online or ask your GP.

With time, patience and gradual exposure, I've made small progress in my journey to overcome agoraphobia.

Find ways to relax

Agoraphobia can make you feel very tense, stressed or upset. And taking steps to work on your agoraphobia can be very draining. It can help to find ways to relax. This might make your symptoms feel less intense. And make some of these other tips feel easier.

Different people find different things relaxing. You could try doing something creative. Or try to do grounding exercises.

Our information on relaxation has more tips and some exercises you can try.

Look after your wellbeing

Agoraphobia can make life difficult to manage. This can feel even harder if our wellbeing is low. It can help to:

Try and get good sleep
Do some physical activity
Avoid recreational drugs and alcohol

You might not be able to work on these things right now. And agoraphobia can make them hard. But doing what you can manage can make a difference.

What are the treatments for agoraphobia?

If agoraphobia is having a big impact on your life, there is treatment available. This includes self-help resources, talking therapy and medication.

We have more information on all of these treatments on our coping with phobias page.

The most common treatment for agoraphobia is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This is a type of talking therapy that looks at the connection between your thoughts and actions. And tries to help you build more helpful thinking patterns.

CBT is normally combined with elements of exposure therapy. This is when you slowly expose yourself to your phobia triggers. Bit by bit.

Together, these approaches can be very helpful in overcoming agoraphobia.

You can access these treatments from the NHS. You may need to speak to a GP. Or in some areas you can self-refer. You can usually do this online or over the phone if you need to. Our how to find therapy or counselling page has more information.

Depending on your symptoms and how much they impact your life, you might be offered these treatments as guided self-help first. This is when you have a professional to guide you through some exercises. But you do most of the work yourself.

In some places, technology like virtual reality might be used as part of therapy. But this doesn’t happen everywhere.

Get help for other phobias, anxiety and trauma

If other phobias, anxiety or trauma are 1 of the causes of your agoraphobia, it can help to get support for them. This can make the agoraphobia easier to overcome.

See our information pages:

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