# Anxiety Disorders > Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia >  >  Why do people think agoraphobia is a choice?

## mama my

I have had psychiatrists to tell me to stop being so anxious. That is  stupid. People do not choose to have anxiety. That is like telling  someone who has depression to snap out of it. Or, like telling a  scizophrenic to stop hallucinating. It is not like a choice. 

I even had doctors who refused to treat me because they thought I was  seeking "drugs". People with anxiety need anti-anxiety medicine, not an  antipsychotic or an antidepressant. The only medine that helps me is  anti-anxiety medicine. Why do doctors rufuse to treat this disorder?

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## Inscrutable Banana

It seems like psychiatrists and therapists who would throw a simple statement out there like that have either lost their passion for helping people explore their issues or should have chosen a different career path in the first place. You might have to keep looking around until you find one that engages in more of a dialog and will eventually decide if they feel the need to write a prescription.

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## 1

Not everyone with anxiety needs anti-anxiety prescription.

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## msguy76

It's a constant struggle for me. Seems as if no one understands

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## sanspants

> Not everyone with anxiety needs anti-anxiety prescription.



Yeah. It's the quick-fix that psychiatry looks down upon. It's also the only fix for a lot of people, depending on the type of anxiety, but typically your doctor will want you to try "alternative means" such as therapy before prescribing you the good stuff. 

Personally I need therapy _and_ meds lol. I can do without either, but you wouldn't want to be around me. In fact, I wouldn't want to be around me.

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## Rawr

So far everyone that I've seen has refused to prescribe me Anti-Anxiety meds as well. Then I hear of friends from different towns that're on them from their Doctors but they're too far out of my way to get to them which sucks cause the doctors in my area pretty much suck. I've been on numerous antidepressants for years & hell no they don't help at all. Doctors keep trying to tell me that they will but they don't & they never will. I've become so frustrated cause I can't even learn to drive nor get a job cause my anxiety is so bad & I need something. At the moment I'm still trying to talk to friends about a doctor whom is more local that would prescribe them to me. I really fucking hate how drug abusers have made it so hard on us to be treated & we have to go through hell cause of it.

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## Otherside

People think it's a choice because they're arseholes. No other way to put it. They don't understand something, so therefore, it cannot exist. They don't understand how when something is in your mind, you can't just think your way out of it. They've never expierenced it, so they don't care to understand, or care to give any tolerance to those who have done. They don't get that some people can expierence the world and life in a different way to them. It's simple to them. Cheer up, depressive. Stop being so hyper happy-go-lucky my dear bipolar friend. Get a grip and some panicking all the time, anxious person. Stop imagining things, Schizophrenic. Or theres the people who think that things mental illness is some big ploy by evil pharma (still trying to work out that would work in a country where we have free-healthcare, but okay, I guess people just like to play conspiracy theories.)

As for the medication...ehh, its a dodgy one. I can kinda get there point. If by anti-anxiety drugs you mean Benzos and the like, they're addictive, can be hard to get off of (apparently having effects similar to heroin withdrawl), and I've seen doctors that are too frightened to hand out a script for one in case the patient does become dependent on the medication. Benzo's are rarely prescribed over here. Then again, for some people, they're the only things that will keep the anxiety under control, and allow them to get on with there lives. 

Anti-depressants can help with anxiety symptoms, and they are often prescribed over here in favour of benzos for that reason. Although I'm sure in some cases, it's the placebo effect. I suspect the Zoloft I'm taking keeps mine under control...somewhat...

As for anti-psychotics, I've heard of them being prescribed for anxiety, but don't have much expierence with them. I had Seroquel on a prescription once, but it was prescribed for something else, and I never really took it.

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## pinkie

I know I SURE don't choose to have agoraphobia and no we aren't taken seriously !! I need help but hard to find someone to come help me.

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## Cuchculan

I think with the right therapist and the right approach we can learn to manage the condition. I have only met one doctor who actually made me induce an attack, to show me how to calm down again. He even done it himself. That to me is the right approach. Try to mimic the conditions to help the patient manage the disorder. What do we expect when we visit a doctor or therapist? My first visit, I seriously thought that I would be taken outdoors. As that was where my problems were. I was shocked when we simply sat in a room. A doctor I can understand not knowing much about mental illness. It is not his job. Not your local doctor. Therapist should have a full understanding. But they have that understanding from books. We could all buy the same books in most shops. I have one here that therapists use. Without going through something, they are trying to fix it as they learned in a book with a hundred other students. If it a public access clinic it is like a revolving door system. They have to see so many patients in so many hours. They have not got time for your problems. In and out. You want the real help, you have to pay big money to get it. That way the more they have to see you, the more they get to make. You will only go back if you think they are doing a good enough job. In Ireland we have free services and paid services. Free is a joke. Not worth wasting your time on. It helps nobody. The real help you have to pay for. It is the time you are paying for. They won't tell you that you have nothing wrong with you. That would be bad business. They will listen and work with you. So would I if you offered me big money. If you came to me for free advice, I would want you out in the quickest time possible. So I could get through all the others as well. That is how it can work. Pay to make them believe you. Medication is always a subject for another day. Works well for some. Not as good for others. Some doctors hand it out easily. Others hate handing it out.

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