Agoraphobia

There are hundreds of types of phobias a person may suffer from, but among the most debilitating is agoraphobia. It literally means “fear of the marketplace,” and it is a fear of public or open places, or a fear of being away from the safety of home. A person with agoraphobia who goes into a public area may experience panic attacks and other symptoms, up to feeling faint or actually fainting. Agoraphobics don’t like to be alone either, but seek out companions who do not need an explanation of their agoraphobic behavior. They will avoid leaving home if at all possible.

Anxiety and panic attack symptoms are easy to spot. The most common symptom of a panic attack is one repeated over and over by sufferers: the irrational fear that you are going to die. Other symptoms include trembling, nausea and other digestive symptoms, feeling shaky, muscle tension, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, dizziness and faintness, and difficulty concentrating. A person having a severe panic attack should sit down; you can faint and bang your head, and that can lead to something really serious like a concussion. Breathing into a paper bag really does help; it readjusts the oxygen to carbon dioxide proportion in the lungs, and forces the body to regulate breathing.

As you might imagine, agoraphobia is a hard phobia to live with. An agoraphobic can’t do something so simple as to go to the grocery store or go out to eat. Its root cause is unknown, but it may be a fear from childhood of being separated from one’s parents in a public place, or of being lost. Treatment includes standard behavioral therapy like bringing the sufferer of agoraphobia gradually into more and more public places until they get acclimatized to the situation, and the mind gradually un-learns its fear. Because an agoraphobic must go into a public place in order to visit a psychotherapist, though, initial treatment may need to be at the agoraphobic’s home, and he or she will almost certainly need a social support network.

For early agoraphobic treatment, the victim may be prescribed antianxiety medications so that he or she is free to go into the open to visit the therapist and start living again.

Anxiety disorders related to agoraphobia include social phobias, such as a fear of speaking in public or a fear of crowds. These phobias are treated in the same manner: with behavioral therapy and with antianxiety medications.