So lonely

Agoraphobia is a frightening, isolating condition that often leaves its victims tearful and breathless when they think of the outside world.

Many sufferers, like York girl Helen Cobley, who featured in the Evening Press last month, feel they are completely alone, unable to reach help outside their front door.

Yet since she told her story, the 21-year-old has been inundated with messages of help and support.

Agoraphobia is commonly described as a fear of leaving a place which feels safe, such as home. Sufferers can be afraid of crowded places and have panic attacks when they go out.

"I was really struggling with the treatment I was on, but I've been trying meridian therapy since then and I feel a lot better," said Helen, of Lowther Street.

"I'm able to leave the house for longer and if I have a panic attack I don't feel as bad about it because I understand why."

The therapy, which Helen received from York therapist Val Hird, involves tapping parts of the body with the fingertips to stimulate meridian energy points while the patient focuses on the issue. It can be used to treat fears, phobias and other problems such as cravings.

Val said: "It works as a psychological acupuncture but we don't use needles.

"A patient will come to see me and tell me about their problem or phobia and we work around the feeling that comes from it.

"Some people feel so traumatised they can't bear to tell me what the fear or phobia is but that's okay, they don't need to tell me the problem, we just work with the feeling around it.

"There is no distress, you are not going back over what's happened before, you are releasing it. It's extremely gentle."

Since starting the therapy, Helen has felt able to leave the house for longer periods of time and is considering launching her own support group.

Meanwhile, David Blore believes Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) can be useful when treating people with panic attacks and agoraphobia.

Mr Blore, a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist who runs a private practice in High Ousegate, said: "CBT is based on the assumption that our thoughts affect the way we feel and what we do towards ourselves and others.

"The therapist and client work together. The aim is to understand and then alter the beliefs that underpin the problem, as well as understand how these beliefs affect current behaviour, in order to change that behaviour and reduce anxiety.

"This sounds complicated but it isn't - it's a very logical approach to problem-solving."

He added: "The orientation of therapy is present to future - the client has a problem now (present) - what are we going to do about it? (future)."

Margaret Hawkins, of helpline No Panic, said the charity used CBT in conjunction with teaching people how to understand their thoughts.

She said: "We always say if it works for you then that's okay but it is not as fail proof as some people might think.

"The biggest problem is if somebody gets better and they don,t know how they got better, then later on another crisis might arrive and they might get extremely anxious again and they will go through the same process again."

To speak to a No Panic volunteer phone 0808 808 0545 between 10am and 5pm.

To contact David Blore Associates, phone 07976 933096 or visit www.davidblore.com.

To contact Val Hird, phone

01904 629347 or visit

www.hypnotherapyyork.com

:: I got my life back...

When Genevieve Levrant was 18, she was feeling the same sort of hopelessness as Helen.

The condition was triggered by taking on other people's problems and resulted in worry, panic, fear, shaking and pains.

She said: "I became somewhat oversensitive to the point of over-analysing everything I saw, heard or felt and constantly compared everything I did to whoever was around me.

"I was frequently in tears for no real reason and had no real friends I could confide in. Trying to express how I felt was beyond words.

"By the time I reached 18, long periods for which I felt a constant tightness in my chest began. Over-analysing brought worry, worry brought panic, panic brought fear and shaking and then the pains would start."

She was given antidepressants by a private psychiatrist, but it was not until she enlisted the help of a hypnotherapist that things started to get better.

"She explained how the condition (agoraphobia) affected people in so many different ways, its dictionary definition merely scratching the surface. As she described how a lot of people feel it was like my mind was being read before my eyes.

"I was saved. This lady was going to help me become the person I so desperately wanted to be but could not."

Now aged 22 and having enjoyed three years at university and a holiday with her friends, Genevieve is keen to show other people there is hope.

"It is possible to get the right kind of help in order to overcome and cure agoraphobia - and I am living proof, she said.

"I wouldn't say I'm a different person I'm the person that was suppressed inside me for so long, that I wanted other people to know. And now they do."

Updated: 12:07 Friday, August 12, 2005