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In its most severe form, people with agoraphobia are completely unable to leave their homes. Take good care of yourself, take your medications as prescribed and practice techniques you learn from your therapist. And don’t allow yourself to avoid situations and places that spark anxiety. The combination can help you do things you enjoy with less fear.
With COVID-19 restrictions easing, not everyone feels ready to venture outside.
By learning and practicing relaxation techniques, you could reduce the level of your anxiety and the frequency of your panic attacks. In the most extreme cases, agoraphobia can develop into a fear of leaving one’s house altogether. The person's home becomes their “safe zone,” and they may avoid leaving their home for days, months, or even years. If a person with agoraphobia eventually pushes through and makes it out of the home, they might have a panic attack.
How can I learn to cope with agoraphobia?
Often these fears turn into anxiety attacks (panic attacks). Physical symptoms of a panic attack include shortness of breath, increased heart rate, and dizziness. When panic occurs, it reinforces your original belief that you should not have left your home.
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How is agoraphobia treated?
The book categorizes different mental disorders and is published by the American Psychiatric Association. The patient approaches a feared situation gradually, attempting to stay in spite of rising levels of anxiety. In this way, the patient sees that as frightening as the feelings are, they are not dangerous, and they do pass.
This condition typically develops in adulthood, though it can emerge earlier in adolescence. The psychological disorder of agoraphobia involves precisely some of these inner feelings. People with agoraphobia often panic at the thought of being out of the home, particularly in places where they have no ability to escape. Even if you never had any of these symptoms, you can now see them developing as a result of the pandemic’s effect on your life. Agoraphobia typically presents as overwhelming anxiety that is irrational and inappropriate for the circumstances—usually when the person attempts to leave home or even thinks of doing so. This article discusses the specific symptoms and signs of agoraphobia that clinicians use to diagnose the disorder.
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They’ll do a physical exam and maybe some tests to rule out any other medical problems. If they don’t find a physical reason for your symptoms, they’ll probably recommend that you see a psychiatrist or therapist. These skills are generally easy to learn and can be practiced for short durations of time to effectively reduce anxiety.
If you’re afraid to visit a medical office in person, you may be able to schedule a telephone or video appointment. These cognitive processes fall into three “panic appraisal” or evaluation dimensions related to feelings of panic. In other words, your thoughts about a situation determine your emotions.
In each attempt, the patient faces as much fear as he or she can stand. Graded real-life exposure has also been used with success to help people overcome their fears. The technique involves exposure to real aversive situations, progressing from less to more extreme situations. For example, a person might be in contact with a few people before progressively spending time with larger groups of people to overcome a fear of crowds.
Agoraphobia Causes and Risk Factors
Through the support of family and friends and professional help, a person with agoraphobia can manage their condition. With medication and psychotherapy, a person with agoraphobia can expect to eventually experience fewer panic attacks, fewer avoidance behaviors, and a return to a more independent and active life. Panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder that includes panic attacks. A panic attack is a sudden feeling of extreme fear that reaches a peak within a few minutes and triggers a variety of intense physical symptoms. You might think that you're totally losing control, having a heart attack or even dying. Agoraphobia is sometimes mistaken as a fear of leaving the house, but it is more complex.
Sometimes patients spend only a few sessions in one-on-one contact with a therapist and continue to work on their own with the aid of a manual. These situations almost always trigger an anxiety response that is out of proportion to the actual danger presented by the situation. However, some patients, especially those who have had problems with alcohol or drug dependency, may become dependent on benzodiazepines. You'll probably take medicine for at least 6 months to a year. If you feel better and no longer are stressed when you're in places that used to scare you, your doctor may begin tapering off your medicine.
Mental health experts believe that the repercussions of these events may have a lasting effect on the well-being of adults and children for years to come. Fear and avoidance can become so severe with agoraphobia that the person with the phobia becomes confined to their home. Treatment may be complicated when patients have difficulty getting to appointments because of their fears. To address this issue, some therapists will go to an agoraphobic patient's home to conduct the initial sessions. Often therapists take their patients on excursions to shopping malls and other places the patients have been avoiding; this provides support and helps the patients cope with their fears. Now imagine, when it is truly safe, that you have the ability to get out of the house and go shopping, eat at restaurants, and perhaps even travel to a vacation destination.
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