How One Man Overcame The Anxiety He Felt From Leaving The House

He learnt about symptoms; took therapy sessions that were mostly outdoors and near his home

- Joyce Teo

After working from home as a call centre operator for four months during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, Mr Mohamed Rashath Mohamed Riyad stepped out of his family's Housing Board flat to go to his workplace, and found himself breaking out in a cold sweat.

The sweating continued as he took the lift to the void deck and walked to the nearby MRT station. It left the young man, who is now 24, slightly confused as it was not a warm day.

While waiting for the train, he felt a little woozy. And the train, when it came, was packed.

"I was near the door and then, everything became blurry. I couldn't quite breathe," he said.

He scrambled to get off at the next stop. His heart was racing, and he felt like he would pass out.

Mr Rashath, an only child, called his mother. They went to the polyclinic near their home in Kallang, thinking it might be long Covid, as he had had a recent bout of Covid-19. The doctor there gave him flu medication and told him to monitor his symptoms.

The next day, he took a cab to work, only to find the symptoms returning once he stepped out of the vehicle.

His company consented to him working from home, but it did not solve his problem. The rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath and cold sweat would return each time he tried to leave his home. It left him more and more unsettled and in low spirits.

"I love to drive, but I couldn't drive. I couldn't exercise, go out, bowl, cycle."

After two months, he sought help again and was referred for a heart scan. When that came back clear, the polyclinic referred him to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

In April 2022, about five months after his symptoms first surfaced, an IMH psychiatrist diagnosed him with agoraphobia, a disorder characterised by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe, with no easy way to escape.