Agoraphobia is a panic disorder that causes the person to develop feelings such as anxiety, fear, discomfort, and embarrassment about environments outside of their own safe space. Although the equivalent of agoraphobia is the fear of space, the situation can sometimes become more complicated than that. Agoraphobia occurs as a result of going outside of the areas where the person feels safe. For example; Being in closed areas such as cinemas, elevators, shopping malls, buses, planes or trains, entering closed or open parking lots, passing through tunnels or bridges, and entering crowded environments in general can trigger agoraphobia.
Agoraphobia sufferers may find it very difficult to resist the feelings of this disease. This can make it difficult for a person to leave his home, which he considers the safest area, and can seriously affect his daily life. People who experience agoraphobia exhibit avoidance behaviors by feeling uncomfortable while they are outside.
What Are the Symptoms of Agoraphobia?
Agoraphobia symptoms can appear in three different ways. These are observed as symptoms that affect a person’s physical condition, symptoms that affect mental health, and symptoms that affect one’s behavior. Symptoms of agoraphobia due to panic disorder can be observed as feelings of anxiety, fear and embarrassment when the person thinks that he or she will not be able to get help if he or she needs help in open or closed areas and feels lonely.
Physical Symptoms of Agoraphobia
Many symptoms of agoraphobia may resemble those of panic disorder. For this reason, the correct diagnosis of agoraphobia is very important for the success of the treatment. Symptoms of agoraphobia include chest pain, rapid breathing, intense sweating due to stress, hot flashes, tremors, difficulty in swallowing, rapid heartbeat, fear of death, nausea, numbness in hands and feet, fear of having a heart attack and dizziness or fainting. .
Psychological Symptoms of Agoraphobia
The psychological symptoms of agoraphobia can also occur depending on the physical symptoms the person is experiencing. These symptoms can be listed as follows:
fear of being alone at home
Thinking that if something happens to the person during his/her stay outside the home, he/she will not be able to get help
Feeling of embarrassment due to the emergence of symptoms related to panic disorder in the community
Don’t think you’re having a heart attack
Don’t think you’ve had a stroke
Feeling constantly in danger
inability to breathe
feeling of losing your mind
Behavioral Symptoms of Agoraphobia
People with agoraphobia may find it difficult to face this illness and may exhibit various avoidance behaviors such as:
Avoiding crowds
Having someone with you when you go anywhere
Avoidance of places away from home
not leaving the house
What are the Causes of Agoraphobia?
It is important what it is, what it experiences, and how it can be resolved rather than what causes agoraphobia, but there are still several psychological disorders that are thought to be associated with agoraphobia:
obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
anxiety disorder
Claustrophobia
Alcohol and substance use
Losing a loved one
Depression
History of sexual abuse as a child or in the future
Having a family history of agoraphobia
Diagnosing Agoraphobia
The symptoms of the person are examined for the diagnosis and diagnosis of disorders such as agoraphobia. To rule out diseases that have the same symptoms as agoraphobia, the psychologist or psychiatrist will examine symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, severe tremors in the hands and feet, and suggest investigating their origin. If the symptoms that emerge as a result of the research develop due to a different disease, they are referred for appropriate treatment and also therapy is started.
The physical as well as the psychological symptoms of agoraphobia are very effective in diagnosing the disease. Agoraphobia patients usually stay away from crowded environments in situations that may develop due to panic syndromes, because they think that they will not get help from anyone, if something happens to them, they will be alone and often die. This situation affects the work life, social life and health of the person negatively in the long run.
Treatment of Agoraphobia
The most important thing at this point is how much the person is affected by this situation. In addition, the decision is made by looking at the physical condition and mental health of the person with agoraphobia. The same treatment method is not applied to every patient diagnosed with agoraphobia. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is generally recommended for the treatment of agoraphobia. In cases where the therapist who has received cognitive behavioral therapy training deems it appropriate, drug treatments can also be applied to prevent the triggering of diseases that affect mental health such as anxiety and depression.