Agoraphobic tackles fear to get to brother's wedding

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Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:00a.m.

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For the last nine years Kellie Geraghty has been a prisoner in South Auckland. She is not in jail – she suffers from a form of agoraphobia. She is unable to travel too far from home – if she gets stuck in traffic she panics, her arms go numb and she cannot breathe. The trouble is she wants to go to her brother’s wedding in October and needs help. Campbell Live went to see whether Kellie could get over her fear.
For the last nine years Kellie Geraghty has been a prisoner in South Auckland. She is not in jail – she suffers from a form of agoraphobia. She is unable to travel too far from home – if she gets stuck in traffic she panics, her arms go numb and she cannot breathe. The trouble is she wants to go to her brother’s wedding in October and needs help. Campbell Live went to see whether Kellie could get over her fear.

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10 Aug 2009 07:20a.m.

Leonard wrote:

I certainly understand agoraphobia, since I have experianced this problem for seven years.
Fortunatley, I can manage walk to my car, and walk to the dumpster, by using a fold up shoppping cart or holding in hand a umbrella can (or regular cane), and sometimes in my other hand hold in a bag a gallon of water (some how I feel I have a better balance.)
However, I can not manage to walk down a street, cross a street corner or even simply take a walk in the park unless I am walking besides someone (preferably someone I know).
When I go shopping to walmart, Publix or Walgreen fortunately, if I find a shopping cart next to where I park my car, I can hold onto the shopping cart to walk across the parking lot and into the store, otherwise I would not able to get out of my car.
I can manage to visit only one shopping Mall in my neighborhood, where park my car is in 'Target Store' parking lot, where I usually find next to my car a shopping cart. Hold on to the shopping cart to get into and walk around the mall.

When I first had this problem, went to get help from a phsychologist and phsychiatrist (only for medication), after one year seen limited improvement. Stop the the treatment and medication (gave me an upset stomach).

07 Aug 2009 11:21p.m.

John wrote:

I hope this lovely lady gets the support and unconditional positive regard she needs from her kind therapist Tony who can release her unlimited power from within. As a trained pyschotherapist and hypnotist I can relate to these problems that may go back to her youth. It is time however hard to sky-dive through your life and face your fears to move on to stand a great chance of being there and making a success of the Wedding, and her family life for the future. The world is passing people by and we need definately more bucks for therapists who dare to confront the thobic peas within our brain. Gromit 2

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