Agoraphobia Panic Attack Information
Agoraphobia is generally considered an anxiety or panic disorder, commonly referred to as the fear of traveling. This fear can range from not being able to travel a few hours away from the home, all the way down to not being able to leave your home all together. An agoraphobia panic attack is basically an attack that occurs when an agoraphobic attempts to go beyond their “safe” boundaries.
The problem with treating an agoraphobia panic attack is that the only real way to overcome the attack is for the person to attempt to push their limits. This is the reason why many agoraphobics tend to get worse before they get better. It is easy for an agoraphobic to ignore their problem, since all they have to do is not travel beyond their limits but unfortunately while being easy to ignore, agoraphobia also tends to be the
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It is suspected that many agoraphobics already had the propensity for being afraid of travel, with many of them being the type that experienced motion sickness before they ever experience panic attacks.
The Unknown
An Agoraphobia panic attack is particularly frustrating to the sufferer themselves. Mainly because the attack is even less rational then a standard panic attack. Why they experience a fear of traveling beyond a certain distance, or going to a certain place is unknown. But anyone of the numerous anxiety / panic disorders can take root and cause agoraphobia.
Social anxiety can lead to a fear of certain public places, especially grocery stores and other places that have a large gathering of people. On the other hand general panic disorder can cause the panic sufferer to become embarrassed of their own disorder, which leads to a fear of traveling outside and having a panic attack. It just goes to show the difficulties that are had in identifying and dealing with an agoraphobia panic
Agoraphobia is a psychological disorder characterised by panic and anxiety. This particular anxiety disorder involves the fear of experiencing a panic attack in a public place where safety may be unavailable, which causes discomfort (Lilienfeld, 2017). This disorder is commonly recognized in women and often arises during adolescent years. Often times, people develop agoraphobia after a previous panic attacks, which than causes them to worry about having another in the future (Agoraphobia, 2017). This results in avoidant behaviours, such as evading places where an attack may occur. There are many causes, symptoms, effects on both the individual with the disorder and their loved ones, as well as a variety of treatments available.
Panic disorder- sudden intense and unprovoked feelings of terror and dread. People who suffer from this disorder generally develop strong fears about when and where their next panic attack will occur, and often restrict their activities as a result.
For a person diagnosed with agoraphobia, there are a number of restrictions and consequences associated with the disorder. A serious consequence is the incidence of severe and paralysing panic attacks. In the early stages of agoraphobia people suffer recurring panic attacks when in certain public places or situations. These attacks cause the person to feel generally uncomfortable in public settings. Eventually, fear of the recurrence of the panic attacks results in an obvious reluctance or refusal to enter all situations associated with the attacks. Other consequences of agoraphobia may include fear of being alone, fear of being in places where escape might be difficult, feelings of helplessness, dependence on others and depression. These consequences place many serious restrictions on a person with this disorder. Agoraphobia causes people to restrict their activities to smaller and smaller areas in order to avoid crowds, and open and public places or situations. This may finally lead to the inability of a person to leave their home without suffering a panic attack.
Characteristics of agoraphobia are a marked fear or anxiety about two or more of the following: "using public transportation" like cars, planes, trains, and buses; "being in open spaces" like a market, a parking lot, a bridge, or ship; "being in enclosed places" like a store, a theater, or an elevator; "standing in line or being in a crowd"; or "being outside of the home alone." (APA, 2013, pg 217) This fear differs from other phobias in that the fear is not the specific place or thing, but the person is afraid that they might not be able to leave or get help if they panic or are incapacitated or have embarrassing symptoms or situations. This might be because of other medical conditions such as vomiting or inflammatory bowel symptoms. Older adults might fear falling. Children might fe...
Severe anxiety, which can be described as an episode of terror, is referred to as a panic attack. Panic attacks can be extremely frightening. People who experience panic attacks over a prolonged time period may become victims of agoraphobia, which is a psychiatric disorder that is closely associated with the panic disorder. Patients with Agoraphobia avoid certain places or situations such as airplanes, crowded theaters, a grocery store or anyplace from which escape might be difficult. It is said that Agoraphobia can be so severe that it has made certain individuals housebound.
anxiety and panic attacks, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (1). Many of these symptoms cause people to avoid contact with the outside world, thus thrusting them deeper into their fears.
Attention Getter: According to the article “Phobia Statistics” from fearof.net, “Nearly 15-20% of us experience specific phobias at least once in our life. In the U.S., nearly 8.7% of people (aged 18 and over) have at least one extreme specific fear and nearly 25 million Americans report having the fear of flying phobia.
This is for instance the case when one develops a panic attack simply because they find themselves in an elevator or other enclosed space especially if they have a fear of heights or are claustrophobic. For the former, if an individual is in an elevator and realizes that they are in the fiftieth floor of a building, then they can easily get terrified and even develop panic attacks fearing that the building might just collapse leading to their demise. In such a case, one can begin trembling and holding on to solid items in the room in a bid to ensure that a solid structure is protecting them, and not simply the glass on the walls. Another symptom is the use of all efforts to ensure that one does not encounter the item or situation that causes phobia (American Psychiatric Association, 2015). This can for instance be in the form of avoiding an airport at all costs where an individual suffers from aviophobia. Where one suffers from agrizoophobia, then they will try as much as they can to avoid contact with an environment that has animals. Such an individual will always come up with strong excuses on the reasons why it is a hundred times better to go swimming in a pool as opposed to visiting a zoo. This is all in a bid to ensure that one is as far away as
Panic disorder is a psychiatric disorder in which debilitating anxiety and fear arise frequently and without reasonable cause. Panic attacks do not happen out of normal fear. Panic attacks happen without reason or warning. If you have panic disorder it could come from one of the following: family history, abnormalities of the brain, substance abuse, or major life stress(Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-panic-disorder). This disorder is in the category of anxiety and depression. Panic disorder belongs to axis one, which is clinical disorders, this is the top level of the DSM multiaxial
MacNeil, G. (2001). Time-limited psychosocial treatment for specific panic disorders and agoraphobia. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 1(1), 29-41. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brief-treatment/1.1.29
Phobias are considered a part of anxiety disorders, a phobia is an intense and irrational fear of a certain thing or situation. Some examples of phobias include fear of heights, insects, and even talking in front of a large crowd. The intensity of phobias differ from patient to patient but the severity of phobia...
Agoraphobia can be a debilitating psychiatric disorder. It was originally called agoraphobia with panic attacks. Later it was renamed Panic Disorder (PD) with or without agoraphobia (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder involving intense fear of any situation where escape may be difficult or where help may not be available. Agoraphobia often entails fear of crowds, or being outside. Most individuals will develop agoraphobia after having a panic attack, which causes them to fear having another panic attack. These individuals work to avoid any sensation which reminds them of the physiological responses they felt during the panic attach. The fear of experiencing another panic attack ultimately leads them
Treatment is available and extremely helpful for those suffering with a phobia. Medications and therapy both work well in the majority of cases. In a majority of cases a portion of the therapy is dedicated to causal exposure to the phobia. The exposure is gradually increased until the individual is comfortable in the situation without experiencing an anxiety attack. Group therapy is also beneficial as the individual is exposed to other suffering through the same fears.
...e mental illnesses that are more common than our society realizes. The community should be more educated as how to properly handle someone who is affected by it. Facing your fears is not an option if you are scared of the fear itself. Having support from someone could prevent a panic attack and help tremendously because it is always comforting to know you are not alone. The most effective way to help someone with an anxiety disorder is first understanding the differences between feeling nervous and owning anxiety disorders. It is an illness that is capable of dealing a lot of damage to a person’s mental health, and without proper help can be fatal. Anxiety disorders can easily evolve into depression and can make a person feel trapped or even suicidal. Knowing the proper procedures can greatly affect people with these disorders and could possibly save someone’s life.
Panic attacks are the third kind of phobia. They can change the quality of a person’s life. Someone with a phobia this bad may be shopping at the supermarket and suddenly experience dizziness and a feeling of being out of control. At that moment, the person experiences a fear of dying, with no safe place to go. When this happens more than once, the person might think they are going crazy. Someone with panic attacks soon won’t leave the house because of fear of a panic attack happening outside the house. Soon, depression s...