Agoraphobia And Its Helpful Remedies

Panic attacks are extremely terrifying until they could change your behaviors as you are anxious of having an unforeseen attack. You will stay way from normal activities or going to unfamiliar places likes shopping mall, restaurants, airplane and public transports that you think might cause an attack from which there is no easy mean of escape. The attack ruins your life and causes you not able to live like a normal people. The pattern of fear and avoidance can be regarded as agoraphobia. The statistics show that,around 3% of the population who have panic disorder and two thirds of them also has some degree of agoraphobia. Most of them are female.

Those who suffer agoraphobia are without any apparent causes. However, they shared some common backgrounds; they are either anxiety or panic disorder sufferers or live under distressed environment. Furthermore, who take tranquilizers and sleeping pills regularly are also at the higher risk of having agoraphobia. Agoraphobics are generally having problems with spatial orientation and they are weak in vestibular function and need to depend on visual or tactile signals. They simply can’t process changing audiovisual data.

Remedies used to cure agoraphobia and panic disorder sufferers are alike.

1) Psychopharmaceutical remedies

Antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication are used to treat agoraphobics. Selective Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) is prescribed as the first option of drug due to it’s least side effects. The only con of this drug is slow in getting the expected curing effects. You may take few weeks to see the chemical to work at its full course.

Benzodiazepine tranquilizers will help you faster as you will get instant control on anxiety and panic attacks extremely well. Nevertheless, your agoraphobia symptoms will aggravate if you stop taking them. On top of that, your mental sharpness will also be affected and compromised.

2) Psychotherapy

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is regarded as the most effective cure for agoraphobia. It integrates both behavioral and cognitive therapies together to have the best result. Your perspective about the situation will change and you learn to respond and behave rationally likes a normal people although during an attack. This method is done in 5 sequential stages;

Stage 1: Education

The therapist will teach you the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes during an anxiety and panic attacks or panic-like-symptoms taking place.

Stage 2: Monitoring

This is a step where you are monitored for the frequency, severity as well as the length of the attacks or panic-like symptoms and identify what causes your attacks.

Stage 3: Physical control strategies

Relaxation techniques are taught so that you can make use of them during an attack and you know how to respond or behave physically during an attack.

Stage 4: Psychological control strategies

You are trained with realistic thinking especially during an attack so that it helps you to control fearful feelings of unknown.

Stage 5: Behavioral strategies

This the final and most essential stage where you learn to fight and face your anxious situation by your own with useful methods you picked up in the earlier stage.

3) Alternative remedies

Eye movement desensitization and reprogramming (EMDR) will be used as the treatment for agoraphobia provided that cognitive-behavioral approaches proven to be not working in your situation. It is a structured approach to address past, present, and future aspects of disturbing memories and it has been proven to be more effective than other alternative remedies.

Self-help or support group is also a very helpful for agoraphobics where you can share your problems and success stories with others.