FEAR OF LEAVING HOME: Symptoms, causes and treatment

In Psychology-Online, we want to talk to you about fear of leaving home for being one of the most disabling problems.

The fear of leaving home isolates people who suffer from it, lowers their security and self-esteem, and affects different areas of life. Do you know why it occurs? Read on to learn how to identify your symptoms, what causes it, and how to treat this problem.

Index

1. Is the fear of going out a disease?
2. Symptoms of fear of leaving home
3. Why am I afraid to leave the house
4. How to lose the fear of leaving home
5. Fear of leaving home after confinement by the coronavirus

In psychology, a problem is considered a disorder or disease when it prevents you from developing your day to day normally or it affects you in one or more areas of life. Therefore, if the fear of going out is harming you at work, in social relationships or is conditioning your life in some way, we can consider it a disease.

The good news is that there are effective treatments for these types of problems that will allow you to reduce and / or eliminate the anxiety caused by leaving home. And therefore, with the help of a therapist, you will be able to enjoy going out again.

The symptoms of fear of leaving home They can appear for the simple fact of thinking that you should go out (to go to work, to the supermarket or to any activity) and they are accentuated when the time comes to do so. They are:

• Palpitations, pounding of the heart, or rapid heart rate.
• Sweating
• Shaking or shaking.
• Feeling of shortness of breath or suffocation.
• Feeling of suffocation
• Chest pain or pressure
• Nausea or abdominal discomfort.
• Diarrhea.
• Feeling dizzy, unsteady, light-headed.
• Chills or feeling hot
• Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensation).
• Derealization (feeling of unreality) or depersonalization (separating from oneself).

Fear of leaving home is often the cause of agoraphobia or a specific phobia, although it is also possible that it appears during a depression or an anxiety disorder.

The agoraphobia It is the fear of being in places where it would be difficult to escape if we suffered a panic attack. Therefore, it usually leads to being locked up at home because it is the place where the sufferer feels safest.

Phobia is the irrational fear of a situation, object, animal or person. If the phobia is related to something outside the home, seclusion is assured.

And as for other anxiety disorders and depression, it is also common for those who suffer from them to feel more secure in home, this reinforces the behavior of not going out and, therefore, seclusion to avoid as much as possible any emotion unpleasant.

To overcome the fear of leaving home, it is best to go to a specialist and undergo treatment. The most effective comprises a cognitive-behavioral intervention in which you will study where fear comes from, what keeps it and how to work to eliminate it.

On the one hand, the thoughts that make fear appear are worked on. On the other, tools are provided to deal with the different associated symptoms.

Within the treatment of anxiety disorders, they are widely used for their effectiveness:

• Exposure therapy: which consists of exposing oneself to the feared stimulus until the anxiety is reduced (when verifying that the danger was not real). It can be done directly or little by little. And in imagination or live.
• Mindfulness: a currently widely used therapy based on mindfulness to the emotions that are being felt.

Due to the confinement we have experienced and the current state of the pandemic, the fear of leaving home is increasing.

In some circumstances, it is because of the fear of contagion itself. We feel safer at home where no stranger approaches or touches us. And going out or just thinking about going out provokes anxiety triggered by catastrophic thoughts related to the situation experienced (illness, full hospitals, deaths ...).

To what extent can we consider it harmful? It is understandable that after a traumatic situation we respond like this. However, there are some things we can do to prevent it from going overboard for now, at least until everything is fixed and we return to the true normality that we are used to. It will be then when the fear of going out will be a problem for being irrational. While:

• Connect with friends and family. It is important to keep in touch and not isolate yourself.
• Get some exercise.
• Do not take pleasure in the news and consult only official sources.
• Go for a daily walk in open and protected areas.
• Establish a routine and add meditation or relaxation once a day.
• Take advantage of the situation to do things you didn't have time for before: painting, reading, cooking, etc.
• Reason all catastrophic thoughts. It is about acting with common sense and following the recommendations.
• Forget whether others follow the rules or not. That is not up to you and you cannot control it. Being aware of others is only going to bring you negative emotions such as anger and frustration.
• Look for the positive. During the first weeks, a lot of solidarity has been shown, communication with people with whom we spoke little before has increased, some relationships have been strengthened ...

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Fear of leaving home: symptoms, causes and treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

• American Psychiatric Association (1995). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV). Barcelona: MASSON
• American Psychiatric Association (2014). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) (Fifth Edition). Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana.
• Martín, J; Moreno, P. (2011). Psychological Treatment of Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia: A Manual for Therapists. Bilbao: Psychology Library.