Agoraphobia: First Steps When Fear Is Already Growing

Fear about what tomorrow holds — "will I cope or not," "what if my loved one leaves," "what if I get fired" — is ordinary human anxiety. But left untouched, it tends to grow. The doctor warns: once such fear hardens into a phobia, it's too late to fight it, and "it won't sort itself out." That's why the first steps matter early, not later.

Why It Won't "Just Pass"

Phobias, the doctor says, "by the classics tend to generalize" — the fear spreads and seizes more and more situations. That's why fashionable advice about "enlightenment," "meditation," and "mindfulness" strikes him as insufficient: in our conditions, a pretty theory doesn't rescue you. His image is simple: in warm India one can sit for years in a piece of cloth and "play around," but in the north "you won't sit bare" — you need real support, not abstract practice.

Three Supports Built Before the Fear

The doctor names three things to address first:

1. Health. "If you have no health — nothing will work." Health gives the very capacity to adapt when circumstances change.
2. Your abilities. Build the skill of adapting: "circumstances change — whoever adapts." This is your resilience against the fear of tomorrow.
3. Contacts with trusted people. Those who "will hide you when you're being hunted"; who are there when you're lying down and can't even make a call. Without such people, the doctor says, "even money is useless."

Why People and Time Matter

The doctor stresses: it can happen that "everything collapses" — your strength, your ability to act — and then you need people you trust around you. And only when you have health, abilities, and support does money "give you time, and time is always opportunity, time is always life." The point isn't accumulation, but a reserve of time and support that softens the fear of the unknown.

The Core Principle: Recognize and Treat

The doctor's blunt point: the "tricks" of "awareness" against real fear "absolutely do not work." What works is different — "we recognize and treat, we get rid of it." Otherwise, in his words, it's "just psycho-info." The first professional step is to tell exactly what is happening, rather than smothering the symptom with pretty words.

Practice: First Steps

• Notice the early signal. If the fear of "what tomorrow brings" starts repeating and grabbing new situations — don't expect it to "sort itself out."
• Strengthen your health. It's the base: without it "nothing will work."
• Train adaptability. Build the capacity to act when circumstances change.
• Gather your circle of trust. Find people you trust who will be there in a hard moment.
• Move toward recognition. Don't drown the fear in "mindfulness" — first understand exactly what it is, then treat it.