Folsom resident seeks to overcome agoraphobia

Barbara Dobbs is afraid to fly-but the Folsom woman isn't worried the plane will crash.Dobbs has agoraphobia, an anxiety disorder characterized by fear of situations from which escape might be difficult or embarrassing (such as planes), as well as situations in which help might be unavailable in an emergency.After more than 30 years of struggling with her condition, Dobbs is finally fighting back.She seems so comfortable in public that it's hard to believe she once spent several years housebound-literally only allowing herself to be driven to and from her mother's house.A panic attack in her car, a common agoraphobic scenario, was Dobbs' first symptom. She was 16."I was going to baby-sit and I got to the stoplight, and then it was like the whole world turned upside down. I lost control; I was shaking."From then on, she couldn't bring herself to drive alone.Everyone, including Dobbs, thought she had developed a strange car phobia and left it at that. But the same thing happened at work several years later, when Dobbs experienced another attack while sitting at her desk."The most horrible feeling came over me that I picked up the phone and called my husband and he came right away," she said. "The first day back (to work), I saw the front door and I just couldn't go in. My husband picked me up and I never went back."Shaken, Dobbs saw several doctors. When they found nothing physically wrong, one doctor referred her to a psychiatrist and, in doing so, scared her away from help."He never told me what it was-he just handed me the card for the psychiatrist. He knew it was a mental, not physical, issue. I cried all the way home. I thought, 'I'm crazy. I'm never going to call this doctor-they'll lock me up and take my kids away.'"So she went on, technically undiagnosed, her world growing "smaller and smaller" as she became confined to her home, until a family friend mentioned an agoraphobic neighbor with the same symptoms."For years, I didn't have a name for it," Dobbs said. "Once someone gave it a name, it opened up the door for me."Dobbs started going through therapy. Though she was confronting her agoraphobia, these first methods didn't always work.In one method, "flooding," agoraphobics are dropped off in a crowded environment and forced to deal with panic attacks, which are felt physically and can be quite frightening.In fact, according to Dobbs' favorite agoraphobia site at About.com, many sufferers have mistaken panic attacks for heart attacks.Flooding didn't work because she wasn't given the tools to cope with panic attacks, Dobbs said. She had to learn those - how to breathe, how to convince herself that anxiety couldn't kill her - on her own. What did help was camaraderie with other agoraphobics.Dobbs first began to improve when she received visits from an agoraphobic woman who had gained control over the disorder."She would come over to my house and we would practice going out. You know they know how you feel," she explained, adding non-agoraphobics don't always get it."I've been yelled at to just get a grip, grab the bull by the horns, get in the car and drive. But (other agoraphobics) understand."Dobbs is also on a medication that helps. Recently, she has used the Bio Acoustical Utilization Device (BAUD) given to her by the Dr. Phil show's psychologist, Dr. Frank Lawlis. The device brings anxiety brain waves down to normal levels.She and her best friend, Lori, also an agoraphobic, went on Dr. Phil's show last year. Dobbs' son and his wife were moving to Florida and Lori was moving to Monterey. Both women desperately wanted to overcome their symptoms to ease their flying fears.Though she still struggles with her symptoms, Dobbs has come a long way. She got on a plane for Dr. Phil and hopes to one day fly out to see her son in Florida-and maybe even go to Hawaii.Dobbs offered some advice for other agoraphobics."Never give up," she advised. "I feel as if anxiety has always controlled me, I've never controlled it. Now I feel like I'm finally starting to turn it around."Know Your NeighborBarbara Dobbs, 48Folsom resident for 16 yearsFamily: Son and daughter-in-law Jason and Martha; daughter, Shannon Bradley, 22, and son Sean, 21.