Jacqui, a 41-year-old British woman who suffers panic attacks every time she is in public, posts pictures of herself on social media in the name of "Agoraphobic traveller", sharing images with over 20,000 members of her Facebook fan club. She says she now travels to countries she wouldn't otherwise go to because of her agoraphobia, including places where she might be able to have a normal social life. But how can she do it? Why does she feel so desperate to find her way around when she knows she's not really the type of person who goes somewhere alone?
Jacqui says she is in a situation where she is always scared that someone is going to find out she is an agoraphobe
This fear is often accompanied by a feeling of dread that she might run into another panic attack in public – she knows she is not an agoraphobe, but the panic attacks that sometimes accompany her anxiety make her feel that she could be.
In addition to being afraid of being embarrassed or judged, she also knows that she wouldn't want to go on public transport with a full bladder. The Agoraphobia Busters' website provides Jacqui with a variety of alternative ways to get around. She has found that her panic attacks are most often triggered by being left in the dark for a long period of time – something she is very familiar with in London. By using her laptop at home she avoids leaving her house, allowing her to move freely in the city while avoiding having to use public transport.
It is hard to know exactly what Jacqui has been told about herself by her friends or family, but she knows she is an agoraphobe because of social media. She knows she avoids public transport because she has to worry about her panic attacks getting worse, and she knows she is not able to have a normal social life because of her agoraphobia.
Jacqui says she joined the Agoraphobia Buster's club because she was interested in learning more about agoraphobia and how it affects people. She also wanted to learn about her panic attacks. She is a regular member of their forum and shares her experiences with the rest of the members, but she also uses the site as a place where she shares some of her own experiences with her agoraphobia.
In one photograph, Jacqui wears a scarf to cover her face and then walks past an unfamiliar car – this shows her agoraphobia: she's afraid that she'll be recognised and taken away. After using the Agoraphobia Buster's site she tells her friends that she knows she'll be able to travel around the world and meet new people. She feels excited about meeting new people who share similar problems – like those she shares a lot of her agoraphobia with.
Many people have said to me that they feel that they may be able to help Jaci. They tell her that there are many agoraphobics around them who have tried to overcome their agoraphobia in the same way, but that they don't have enough information to make themselves understood by other people. They say that they are glad that Jaci is sharing her story and that they want to be a helping hand.
Jacqui hasn't found the answers to her questions because she doesn't know where to start. Some people say that she should simply "just keep trying harder and harder." But Jaci's friends have also told her that they believe that they can help Jaci. They want to give Jaci the support and encouragement that she needs to be able to move on with her life and find the happiness that she has been looking for.