31 {Daniel Bentley} From Agoraphobia to the Kokoda Trail

Trigger warning: this episode discusses anxiety, depression and agoraphobia.

We have spoken about anxiety and depression on this podcast before, but what happens when the panic attacks and symptoms are so bad that you end up feeling too scared to even leave your home.

A small town country kid who never quite fit in. that’s the feeling that would follow Daniel Bentley for decades and eventually lead him to developing a number of mental health conditions.

Battling with depression and feeling stuck in a life that he felt was going nowhere, at the age of 23 he packed up and moved 2000km across the country in search or something different.

His depression followed him though and he eventually developed severe social anxiety and agoraphobia. Spending most of his 20’s as a shadow of a person locked in a cage of his own making he finally sought help.

This episode is a fascinating look into how the panic attacks of an agoraphobic can be the very thing that lead someone to isolating themselves even further.

But Daniel’s story isn’t just of his illness, but also of his extraordinary journey to overcome and grow beyond it.

In today’s episode Dan shares:

- The isolation, depression and anxiety he suffered from even during childhood

- How the panic attacks of agoraphobia led to a cycle of anxiety and depression.

- The ways he pushed himself past his comfort zone and made his mean health struggles his super power

Key Quotes

“My assumption that I was going through this school as a complete loner, I don’t really matter.”

“The more I spoke to people about it, the more better I felt about myself.”

“You have to arrange your life around avoiding these attacks and that basically becomes very boring.”

“if something came up and I was afraid of it, I knew I had to do it.”

“You create the situation you’re in. I told myself I didn’t fit in and that became the way I was.”

Find out more about Daniel bentley

You can find out more about Daniel here:

www.danbentleymedia.com

Or follow him on socials: @danbentley.media

Daniel is also a supporter of Mates In Construction - https://mates.org.au

MATES is a charity established in 2008 to reduce the high level of suicide among Australian construction workers.

You can get involved with the podcast online

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If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

For her other business you can find it through the websites:

www.altitudefitnessarmidale.com.au

Or you can follow them on Instagram:

@Altitudefitnessarmidale

@trialtitudeperformance

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