Jeremy Norton, 40, had been too afraid to leave his house since the age of 20 and suffered from severe anxiety and panic attacks as a result.

However, after being introduced to hypnotherapist, Liz Davis, he has now beaten his fears and has not only ventured outside his house but travelled around Europe and even been on a plane.

“This affected friendships, relationships, family and ultimately my self-esteem.”

Even a simple journey to a friend’s house needed a specific “safe route” and if he went outside of this specific route it could cause intense panic.

He said: “I would be taken with an uncontrollably overwhelming feeling of vertigo when I was outside.

“It felt as though I was suddenly upside down, dangling from the Earth by my feet and that I was going to fall from the ground into the sky.” During a panic attack Jeremy needed to get inside a building so that he could feel safe from the feeling that he could fall into open space.

He added: “Western Road in Brighton was a perfect safe zone during the day because I could run into a shop at any point and calm down.

“In the evening it is more scary for me because the shops are closed so the only buildings open are the bars and restaurants.

“Even if there was a busy main road to cross, my only instinct was to run.”

Feeling helpless, he decided to visit Seven Dials-based hypnotherapist Liz Davis who said his agoraphobia was due to repressed and blocked memories of childhood traumas.

She told how she used hypnotherapy “age regression” to take him back to his childhood so he could deal with his problems.

The 38-year-old said: “Jeremy was really determined to get some positive results because he really wanted to start living his life again.

“Everything suddenly made absolute sense and Jeremy felt that he had finally uncovered the very original cause of his fears.”

Jeremy Norton with hypnotheraist Liz Davies.  

Ms Davis added: “People only usually need a few sessions at the most, so it’s such a fast method of effective therapy.”