Journalist Glòria Serra explains her struggle with agoraphobia: "I couldn't cross the street"

BarcelonaThe Barcelona-born journalist Glòria Serra, known for the program Research team (La Sexta), he explained on the RAC1 podcast No filters the mental health problem that led her to seek professional help when she was 23. In a conversation with journalist Marta Cailà, the panelist ofThe world on RAC1 She detailed what it's like to live with agoraphobia. "I felt that crossing the street put me in very high danger, as if someone had told me to jump off a building," she recalls. Serra asserts that one of the most difficult aspects of mental health problems is the lack of understanding from those around them and even from the person affected. "It was obvious that I could cross the street. It was absurd," she admits. This lack of empathy meant that the journalist didn't tell almost anyone. "People don't understand. My mother's face when I told her was terrible. I didn't know how to tell her; I only knew that it was true that I couldn't cross the street," she says.

"The trigger was an anxiety attack I suffered at work that landed me in the hospital. Then, a good friend, Andreu Buenafuente, called me and said, 'You have to go to a psychologist.' When I went, a psychologist helped me see where self-awareness was at the mental level. One of the shocks was discovering that I was deceiving myself," Serra recounts. The journalist explains that the psychologist made her realize she had likely been suffering from agoraphobia for some time, but that she had developed strategies to avoid confronting the problem, such as walking down the street reading a book, choosing subway entrances that allowed her to avoid crossing the street, or walking with her hand on the wall. "Being aware of it is a hard blow because you feel incapacitated because your mind is incapacitating you. As someone who has always done intellectual work, my mind has always been my greatest asset," she recalls. Serra underwent treatment for three months and admits that learning the necessary tools to prevent further attacks was crucial to her recovery. "It's never happened to me again, although I have suffered from burnout," says the journalist, who recommends that people in a similar situation seek qualified help.