You're not broken. Your brain is just stuck in alarm mode.
I'm Matt. I'm 30, from Lincoln, and I've lived with panic disorder with agoraphobia since I was a teenager. Between
16 and 25 I barely left the house. I lost my apprenticeship, my relationship, most of my friends, and very nearly
my life. I'm not writing this as someone who has it all figured out. I'm writing it because when I was at my worst,
I couldn't find anything that sounded like it was written by a real person.
This site is what I wish had existed back then: kind, practical, UK-based, and written for days when opening the
front door feels like enough.
What you'll find here
Everything on this site comes from my own experience of panic disorder with agoraphobia, backed up by what I learnt
through years of NHS treatment in Lincoln - CAMHS, the crisis team, the Archway Centre, and clinical psychologists.
I'm not a therapist. I'm someone who has been through it and wants to make the path a bit less lonely for you.
If you're new, start here - it'll point you in the right direction
depending on what you need. If you want to understand why your brain does this,
understanding agoraphobia is a good place. If you want
something you can actually do today, try the self-help plan.
The one thing I'd tell my younger self: stop waiting to feel ready. Readiness comes after practice, not before.
A shaky attempt still teaches your nervous system something new.
You don't have to do this alone
I've set up a Discord server for people with agoraphobia to chat, share small wins, and just have somewhere to go
when it feels like nobody understands. It's free, it's quiet, and there's no pressure to talk if you're not ready.
The Discord is peer support, not a crisis line. If you're unsafe right now, please use
crisis support.