Common Fears When Struggling With Anxiety, Panic Disorder, and Agoraphobia
I created this episode of A Healthy Push podcast because when I was struggling, I remember walking into therapy week after week, feeling so incredibly alone, isolated, and honestly crazy.
I remember saying to my therapist… "You’ve got to tell me that other people struggle with this stuff because I honestly feel like I’m the only one." I remember hearing, “Shannon, you’re not alone.” But it never quite made me feel better.
So, that’s why I’m here. I want you to know you’re not crazy, and you’re definitely not alone. Let’s break down some of the common fears people experience in this space—trust me, I’ve dealt with them all!
Being afraid to feel anxious and experience a panic attack. You might be like… Duh, Shannon! But I feel like I have to start here and talk about this because it’s one of the biggest reasons why people struggle so much with anxiety, panic, and agoraphobia. A lot of people have one out-of-nowhere panic attack, and suddenly, they start avoiding things, or they tiptoe through life, afraid it’ll happen again. Or perhaps anxiety has been a lifelong struggle, and there from a young age. If that sounds familiar, it totally makes sense why you’d be scared to feel anxious or panic! It’s not the places or situations that freak you out, though—it's the feeling. You're not afraid of the highway, or the store, or being far from home. You're afraid to feel anxious in those places. Once you get better at making space for anxiety and letting yourself feel it, doing the things becomes a lot easier, and the fear begins to fade. So yeah, being scared of feeling anxious is a big deal, but it's something you can totally work through!
Being afraid of how anxiety shows up for you. Being afraid of how anxiety shows up in your body is super common. Anxiety can hit in a lot of different ways: maybe it’s in your chest, heart, or breathing, maybe it’s dizziness or nausea, or maybe it’s that detached, out-of-body feeling (hello DPDR). Whatever it is, it makes sense that it feels scary!
For example, if anxiety hits your chest, you might feel tightness or heart palpitations and start freaking out about your heart or breathing. If it’s dizziness, you might avoid going places because you’re afraid you’ll pass out. Stomach issues? No one wants to deal with nausea or toilet anxiety when they’re out. And when it’s anxious thoughts or feeling detached from reality, it can feel like you’re losing control. It’s tough because these sensations are uncomfortable, and it’s easy to get caught in the cycle of checking for them, trying to prevent them, and freaking out when they show up. But here’s the thing—it’s all just anxiety. Your body is responding normally, even if it feels terrible. The goal isn’t to fight specific symptoms but to change how you respond to anxiety in general. When you do that, anxiety stops showing up in all these overwhelming ways!
Being afraid you’re going crazy, losing your mind, or the anxiety will get so bad that you will go crazy. This is a big one, and it's so common! I can tell you that there were many times that I thought I was going crazy.
It’s easy to feel this way when the symptoms are intense and constant. But here’s the truth: you’re not going crazy, and you’re not going to. You don’t have to convince yourself otherwise because it’s simply not your reality.
So, next time that thought pops up, try letting it in and letting it go. Remember, just because you think it doesn’t make it true!
Being afraid of people seeing you feel anxious or experience panic. Embarrassment and shame can add a whole other layer to dealing with anxiety. It can feel embarrassing to experience anxiety or panic in front of people, and so lots of people will hide what they are feeling.
One thing I hear all the time is, “I look around and everyone else seems fine—like they’re not experiencing panic or anxiety, but I'm a complete mess.” But honestly, that’s not true. So many people are dealing with similar things; they’ve just learned to hide it well. Being open about our struggles—even if it feels embarrassing—is such an important step in healing. Let yourself be seen and let yourself feel a little embarrassed; that’s how we grow.
Being afraid that you’ll regress, go back to struggling really bad again, and it’ll be worse than ever. This fear makes so much sense. You’ve experienced some really hard stuff and you’ve made some or lots of progress, and you don’t ever want things to be that hard again. And let’s be real, our brains are really good about remembering those really hard moments.
Here’s the thing: you don’t need to try and “prevent” a setback. Stay focused on the healthy steps you’re taking right now. On being kind and supportive to yourself, and on practicing feeling.
Being afraid that you’ll never get better. When you struggle with anxiety for any amount of time, it can make you feel really sad, depressed, and hopeless. And it can convince you that you’re never going to get better and you’ll always struggle with anxiety and panic. If you’ve ever felt this way, hear me out: it’s just fear talking. Of course you’re scared; that makes sense. But no matter how long or intense the struggle has been, you are capable of building a healthy relationship with anxiety. You weren’t “born” anxious, and this fear doesn’t have to define you. You can feel afraid that you’ll never heal - but don’t let that fear stop you from continuing to live in the present and take healthy steps.
I hope this episode has helped you to feel seen, validated, and less alone. You are not broken. I always tell my students… You’re not doing this work to fix you. You aren’t broken. You are doing this work to fix your relationship with anxiety. And you are capable of this.
No matter your fears, how long you’ve been struggling, or how badly you’ve been struggling, you are capable of doing this work. Don’t convince yourself otherwise.
Until next time, keep taking healthy action!
Feeling like you've tried everything but you're still struggling with lots of anxious thoughts, symptoms, panic attacks, and fears? Take my FREE 60-minute masterclass today and learn 5 shifts that will actually help you to overcome anxiety, panic disorder, and agoraphobia. And I promise, you won't hear any of the usual stuff from me - like doing breathing exercises, grounding practices, cutting out caffeine, and doing more exposures. Let's get you the peace and freedom you deserve without it being so hard!
Check out my masterclasses here and start experiencing lots more peace, joy, & freedom!
TRANSCRIPT