Agoraphobia Strategy: Getting Your Imagination To Work For You

Most people with agoraphobia have a great imagination. People with agoraphobia are able to imagine the most terrible possibilities in any circumstance and their catastrophic imaginings are vivid enough to produce fear and panic.

One key to recovering for agoraphobia is getting your imagination to work hard for you instead of against you. The cognitive strategy that has been developed to do this is commonly called "positive visualization."

I turned a major corner in my recovery from agoraphobia when I could visualize situations that evoked pleasant emotions as clearly as I could visualize situations that evoked fear. Through practicing positive visualization at least twice per day, I put my creative powers to work for me.

I used the power of my imagination to help me in two ways. First, I used it to create a place of tranquility in my mind. I could always retreat to this place when I started to feel anxious or visualize something negative. Second, I used it to picture myself being calm while sitting in class among other students, going to the shopping mall, playing in school sports, or attending church again. These visualizations let me practice feeling calm in anxiety-producing situations without going anywhere.

Using my imagination in my favor, I was able to experience and feel as if I had recovered from the anxiety disorder in my mind before I actually did. Once I was able to feel and see recovery in my mind’s eye, my reality was soon transformed.

How can you create a private retreat in your mind?
Harry Truman once said, "I have a foxhole in my mind." This meant he had created an imaginary place where he could go to escape the pressures of the outside world. I read about this when I had my anxiety disorder and thought it was a great idea. I figured if this worked for the 33rd President of the United States, then it might work for me.

I used my imagination to create a secret place in my mind where only I would go. I carefully imagined what it might look like, and what sounds and smells I might experience there. Once I imagined this secret place in minute detail, I wrote out a script that described it. I recorded this script on tape so that I could either listen to it myself read it or have my mom read it to me. My script went something like this:

"Lie back, close your eyes and imagine you are entering a place of ultimate relaxation that no one knows about but you. You are walking along a dirt path in a forest beside a stream of cool running water. The water is clear and you can see the forms of rocks below the stream’s currents. Tall trees are all around you providing shade from the sunlight that peeks through their branches. You can hear birds chirping and see butterflies fluttering through the air.

After you walk for a while you stop to lie down in some grass by the stream. As you lie back in the grass you close your eyes and focus on the sound of water gently flowing by. The gurgling of the stream and the chirping of the birds brings you a deep sense of peace as you relax alone, surrounded by nature. You can also smell the fragrant aroma of the pine trees wafting trhough the air.

You don’t have to do anything or be anything here. No one will ask you to do anything or expect anything of you. In fact, no one will ever find you here. You are completely free to lie down and relax for as long as you want to stay here. You feel your body go limp as you lie on your back in the grass without a care in the world."

My script was actually longer than this but you get the idea. I shared this much to encourage you to write your own.

Your imaginary retreat doesn’t have to be in nature. It can be a palace on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It can be a monastery in the middle of the desert. It can be a warm, sunny day at the beach. It can be anything or any place you want it to be.

The important thing is that you create a place in your mind that you can visit any time just by closing your eyes. Then when you are in an anxiety-producing situation, you can close your eyes and take a trip to your personal place of tranquility.

Here are some things to remember when creating a secret, imaginary place in your mind:

1) Have fun with the process and enjoy yourself. Treat it like planning a real vacation.

2) Let your imagination run wild. Use your creativity to come up with a place that would feel the most iviting and relaxing to you.

3) Include details that involve all the senses if you can. Include, touch, taste, smell, sounds and sights.

4) Add as much description as possible to make it real. Use a thesaurus to come up with adjectives if you need to.

5) Make your script long enough to give your body time to get into a deep state of relaxation. You might want to create a script that takes at least 15 or twenty minutes if read slowly.

6) Record your script in a soft voice with relaxing music in the background. You might even ask a familiar person who has a voice that relaxes you to read it for you.

7) Include statements that suggest relaxation like "Your body feels calm and relaxed from head to toe" or "Here in this place, you have nothing to worry about, no one you have to please, and no obligations to fulfill."

Positive visualization works because our subconscious mind doesn’t always distinguish between the real and the imagined. Our thoughts and what we see in our minds has great influence on our emotional state, even if it is pure fantasy. Creating an inner life gives your mind a break from thinking about all of the stresses that may be bombarding you.

If you have agoraphobia, then you probably have a powerful imagination that will make it easy to imagine a secret place. Creating a private retreat in your mind will be the first step toward harnessing the power of your imagination and making it work for you in your recovery from agoraphobia.