Haven't left my house in 8 months..? Options

[goth-nina]

I'm Agoraphobic, I've been diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder since I was 10.
For the first 4 months in high school, people thought I was a mute. Yeah, i know. I'm very quiet. I wouldn't yell even if I was on fire.

My mom was extremely a depressed person, so I think this was genetic.
During elementary school, it was very hard. That's when the bullying began, in the 3rd grade.
It hasn't stopped since I turned senior in high school. I graduated in June 2008, since July 1st, I haven't left my house.
I start college in Fall 2009, I'm considering taking it online. I just can't be around people. I can't even breathe in a
supermarket. My brother tried to take me Christmas shopping last December, & it was too much people, passing towards me, touching me, looking at me, I just started having slow panic attacks & ran into the car, & just bursted in tears.

I can't live like this. I can't even get across a room full of people. I always have to wait for hours for them to leave, so I can get my bottled water in the vending machine. My dad thinks it's stupidity, not extreme shyness.

So is there any advice anyone can give me? Should i go out, take it slow? Geez, I can't even do THAT, I always duck when a car passes by.

[mipadi]

I think you first have to analyze why you scared. When you feel anxious about going out, stop and think about why you're anxious. Maybe even writing/journaling about your thoughts and feelings can help you investigate the cause. I think problems are much easier to face when you understand them.

Once you understand your fears, you can begin to address them. You'll probably realize there's nothing at all to be scared about, and then you can start to face your fear. Going slow at first is probably the best route.

I understand how you feel, though. I'm extremely acrophobic, and it's still hard for me to go anywhere high -- even climbing a ladder freaks me out. But if you take baby steps, you can slowly overcome it.