Agoraphobia: When Fear Keeps you Home and How a CBT Therapist Can Help
Updated: July 11, 2025You want to leave the house, but something inside you says, What if I panic? What if I can’t get out? What if I have a panic attack? You might feel safer at home. But over time, the world outside starts to shrink. That’s what agoraphobia can feel like.
Agoraphobia isn’t just a fear of open spaces. It’s fear of being in a place where escape feels hard, or help might not come if you panic. It often shows up after someone has had panic attacks. You're not lazy. You're not weak. Your nervous system is just trying to protect you—from something it sees as dangerous, even if it's not.
If you live in Ontario and looking for an agoraphobia therapist, book a free consultation. We will match you with an online therapist in Ontario. Read about our therapy fees.
What Are the Early Signs of Agoraphobia?
Early signs of agoraphobia can vary from person to person. Signs and symptoms can include:
You feel anxious in crowded places
You avoid driving or taking public transit
You cancel plans last minute
You start to rely on someone to go places with you
You feel safer at home than anywhere else
At first, it might just be one or two places. Over time, the list of “safe zones” gets smaller.
What is Agoraphobia? (Source: Kati Morton)
What Do People with Agoraphobia Avoid?
Everyone is different, but here are some common avoidances:
Grocery stores
Malls
Elevators
Public transportation
Highways
Busy waiting rooms
Being alone in public
Leaving the comfort of their house
Avoidance makes things feel better in the short term. But long term, it feeds the fear.
Common Safety Behaviours
Safety behaviours help give you the illision that you are “safe”. However, they may be making your agoraphobia worse over the long term. Learn more about safety behaviours.
When people do go out, they often try to stay safe by:
Bringing someone with them
Sitting near exits
Looking for exits
Carrying water, meds, or a phone
Mapping out escape routes
Staying close to home
These safety behaviours are like training wheels. They can help at first, but they also keep your brain from learning that you're actually safe.
Why Does Agoraphobia Develop?
Agoraphobia often grows out of panic disorder or long-term anxiety. If you’ve had panic attacks in public, your brain may start to connect certain places with fear. Trauma, high stress, and sensitive nervous systems can all play a role. You might also have a family history of anxiety.
Agoraphobia can develop because of a multitude of reasons. For most people, they had a panic attack in public and they worry about it happening again.
How Agoraphobia Affects Your Life
It can be quiet at first—just a few skipped outings here and there. But over time, agoraphobia can affect work, school, relationships, and your sense of independence. It can be lonely. And it’s hard to explain to others when they say things like, “Just go out” or “You’ll be fine.”
But you’re not stuck. There’s help.
What Causes Agoraphobia?
Agoraphobia often starts after a panic attack, especially in a public place. Your brain starts linking that place to danger—even if it was safe. Some people also develop agoraphobia after dealing with chronic anxiety or past trauma.
Common risk factors include:
A history of panic attacks
High levels of everyday anxiety
Past trauma or stressful life events
A family history of anxiety disorders
It’s not your fault. Your brain is just trying to protect you—but it’s gone into overdrive.
How Common Is Agoraphobia?
Agoraphobia affects around 1.7% of adults in any given year (Kessler et al., 2005). It’s more common in women than men and often starts in the late teens to early adult years. Left untreated, it can last for years—but with help, most people see big improvements.
How Are Agoraphobia and Panic Related?
Agoraphobia and panic attacks often go hand in hand. In fact, for many people, agoraphobia starts after they’ve had a panic attack in public. The fear of “What if I panic and can’t escape?” begins to shape everyday life. Over time, people start avoiding the places where they fear panic might strike. You might start avoiding things like malls, highways, or busy events.
Here’s the tricky part: the more you avoid, the more powerful the fear feels. It becomes a loop—panic leads to avoidance, and avoidance keeps the panic alive. That’s why CBT and exposure therapy work so well. They help you break that loop, face the fear, and feel safer again.
Read more on CBT for panic attacks.
Agoraphobia When Driving
Driving is one of the most common fears for people with agoraphobia. You might worry about losing control, getting stuck in traffic, or being too far from help. Highways, bridges, and stoplights can all become triggers.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone—and you can work through it.
Start with short, safe drives. Sit in your car with the engine off. Practice breathing in the driver’s seat. Drive around the block with someone you trust. Over time, stretch the distance of your drives. With practice and support, your brain will relearn: “I can do this.”
You don’t need to push yourself into full-on panic. Start small, stay steady, and build confidence one ride at a time.
Learn more about driving anxiety therapy.
Can Trauma Cause Agoraphobia?
Yes, trauma can play a big role in agoraphobia.
For some people, agoraphobia starts after a traumatic event. The brain starts to label certain places as dangerous, even if they aren’t. You might think, “If I go back there, something bad will happen again.”
This is your brain trying to protect you. It’s not broken—it’s just stuck in survival mode.
Trauma-focused CBT and exposure therapy can help you process what happened. Over time, you can rebuild trust in the world around you. You can teach your brain that you're safe now.
Read our blog post, How do I know if I need therapy for a past trauma?
Meet our trauma and PTSD therapists.
Can Agoraphobia Kill You?
The short answer? No—agoraphobia itself won’t kill you.
But the fear feels intense enough to make you wonder. That’s because panic attacks often come with chest pain, shortness of breath, or dizziness. Your body goes into fight-or-flight mode, and your brain thinks something is wrong. For example, you might think that you are having a heart attack or a stroke.
Even though these symptoms feel dangerous, they’re not. They pass. Panic won’t stop your heart or take your life.
That said, untreated agoraphobia can shrink your world. It can lead to loneliness, depression, and a lower quality of life. That’s why getting help matters. Therapy can give you your freedom—and your peace of mind—back.
Can Agoraphobia Be Treated?
Yes, you can treat agoraphobia. Many people can overcome it altogether. With the right support and tools, symptoms can fade over time. The key is to face the fear gently and consistently, not all at once. Healing takes effort, but you can absolutely get there.
Research shows that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective treatments for agoraphobia (Hofmann et al., 2012). It helps you challenge the thoughts and behaviours that keep you stuck. CBT also helps you face your fears in small, safe steps.
A trained CBT therapist will help you:
Understand what’s fuelling the fear
Work through panic and avoidance
Slowly face situations in safe, supported steps
Learn tools to calm your body and mind
Help you face situations without your safety behaviours
Therapy won’t push you into anything too fast. It meets you where you are. Learn how a man who overcomes agoraphobia with exposure therapy.
If you have severe agoraphobia, you may want to make an appointment with your primary provider. Some people will need a combination of medication and therapy.
What Is Exposure Therapy?
Exposure therapy is a key part of CBT. It means slowly and safely facing the things you avoid. The goal isn’t to suffer—it’s to retrain your brain. When you avoid something, your brain stays afraid. But when you face the fear in small steps, your brain starts to calm down.
Think of it like strengthening a muscle. You don’t start by lifting 100 pounds. You start small and build up.
Exposure Ideas for Agoraphobia
Start where you are. Choose something that feels uncomfortable but doable. The goal is progress, not perfection.
Some exposure ideas:
Standing outside your front door for 1 minute
Walking to the end of your driveway
Sitting in your car without driving
Going into a quiet store with a friend
Riding the bus one stop
Practicing deep breathing in a crowded area
You can repeat exposures until the anxiety drops. Then move to the next step. Go slow, but keep going.
How to Overcome Agoraphobia Fast (Or at Least, Faster)
Let’s be honest—there’s no magic fix. But there are things that speed up recovery:
Start exposure early (don’t wait for motivation)
If you find a CBT therapist, ensure to set up weekly therapy sessions
Track your progress (small wins matter)
Practice daily (consistency is key)
Challenge your thoughts (“What if I panic?” vs. “I’ve handled it before.”)
Work with a therapist trained in CBT or exposure therapy
The fastest way forward is one small step at a time. Avoiding might feel easier right now, but it makes things harder in the long run. Each time you face the fear, you take your life back.
How to Help Someone with Agoraphobia
If someone you love has agoraphobia:
Be patient. They’re not doing this on purpose.
Don’t pressure them to “just go.”
Ask how you can support them.
Encourage small steps and celebrate progress.
Help them connect with a therapist who understands agoraphobia.
Connect with an Agoraphobia Therapist for CBT.
We offer online therapy across Ontario, so you can get help from the comfort of home. If you're looking for an agoraphobia therapist who understands what you're going through, we're here. Step by step, things can get better.
Book a free consultation to learn how we can help. We have over 20 therapists to choose from including social workers, psychologists, and psychotherapists. Our Clinical Directors will help match you during your free consultation. Our therapy fees. Meet our online anxiety therapists.
Written by Celissa Vipond, a CBT therapist in Ontario
References
Hofmann, S. G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I. J., Sawyer, A. T., & Fang, A. (2012). The efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36(5), 427–440.
Kessler, R. C., Chiu, W. T., Demler, O., & Walters, E. E. (2005). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 617–627.
