Agoraphobia Definition: How to define agoraphobia and not let it define you
Webster’s online dictionary says the definition of agoraphobia is, “the abnormal fear of being helpless in an embarrassing or inescapable situation that is characterized especially by the avoidance of open or public places”. The old-school agoraphobia definition says, “The fear of the marketplace”. The word “agoraphobia” is actually Greek for “fear of the marketplace”, as this is where most people would often experience the symptoms commonly associated with agoraphobia.
I remember in my early twenties being overly preoccupied with activities that entertained me, without the inclusion of others. Often, I would come home from work, hit the sofa and play video games, or surf the net, or read books. I wouldn’t call people up, I wouldn’t go to people’s houses and they wouldn’t come to mine.
Sure, I was always the shy type of guy. I would only speak when spoken to and I’d mind my own business. After graduating from high school, forced cooperation with peers came to a screeching halt. I can’t pin-point exactly when after graduation, but it wasn’t long thereafter, I became more and more like a hermit. I would do the daily grind at work, come home and do my own thing. Anything that would break me out of this routine would leave me extremely frustrated. People from work would sometimes try to get me to go out with them after the shift ended, and I would always decline, saying I was busy with something. This, of course, was a lie but it felt that I desperately needed to stick to this unwritten routine.
I was more or less stuck in a rut, but I didn’t mind it at first. Years went by before I started to see my life passing before my eyes. Did I really want to be that 50 year old single guy that’s never been married, had minimal intimate relationships, never experienced the joy of fatherhood, had zero friends, still having panic attacks, hyperventilation symptoms, agoraphobia…etc.
I decided that I deserved better. I found the greatest anxiety resource available. I read it front to back several times over. I started applying the techniques, and soon found my way out of my own self-imposed rut. I will never go back to my old life, as my new one has so much to offer myself and everyone around me.
Matt Collins is a recovering panic attack sufferer and has made a mission of himself to help others find the anxiety and panic attack cure.
Let’s Define Agoraphobia
Commonly referred to a fear of open spaces, agoraphobia is anything but. In order to define agoraphobia, one first needs to translate its meaning from Greek â âagoraâ is the Greek word for the market place and phobia is the Greek word for fear; and so we have a fear of the market place. Most market places are crowded and noisy and one cannot typically exit without firstly pushing through the throngs.
And this is precisely what most agoraphobics are afraid of. They fear panicking and making a fool of themselves in a public place with no possibility of an easy escape. Because of this fear, they will go out of their way to avoid certain places or situations. Avoidance behavior like this will only make the problem worse and finally, the agoraphobic will limit themselves to a very narrow comfort zone such as their home or to restricted behaviors and routines. Even then, anxiety is the predominant emotion which can be a constant companion.
But how do they arrive at this point? This definition presupposes the existence of a panic disorder â in order to dread panic, you need to have experienced it. In fact, while agoraphobia and panic disorder may seem like two different conditions, it is highly unlikely to suffer from agoraphobia without firstly having a panic disorder. Likewise, about a third of those suffering from panic disorders will go on to develop agoraphobia; typically those who do not seek treatment early enough.
The precise causes of panic disorders and therefore agoraphobia are not known. Perhaps there are different triggers for each case and this is why treatment needs to be personally tailored after careful individual analysis. It is commonly thought that there is a combination of factors involved which could be genetic, biological, environmental or social in origin. In some cases, the panic response may be a learned behavior and in others, it may be innate.
Fortunately, whatever the case, successful treatment is available. This is usually a combination of therapies. Medication may be used to control the symptoms of panic and anxiety in the beginning of treatment but as anti-anxiety drugs have side effects, dosages should be reduced over time. In the meanwhile, psychological therapy concentrates on changing the mindset and behavior patterns that contributed to the development of the condition.
Emma Hudson is an anxiety disorder expert. For more great information on how to define agoraphobia, visit
http.//www.panicattackneedtoknow.com.
Understand and Define Agoraphobia
Before we start our attempt to explain and define agoraphobia, let us show why we decided to talk about it. We will show the reason in terms of numbers.
We have found a figure that says that agoraphobia rate in the USA is about 1 person in 84 people is managing and dealing with Agoraphobia. This means that 3.2 million people in the USA and dealing with Agoraphobia.
Agoraphobia as a disorder is categorized under anxiety disorders in the anxiety DSM IV. Therefore, it is looked at as one of the types of anxiety.
One simple definition of Agoraphobia that we came across says that this disorder is the fear of open spaces. Not only we find that this definition is simple in nature, but it also does not give all the dimensions necessary to understand its real scope.
If we dig deeper to find more accurate and elaborate definitions for Agoraphobia disorder we find an explanation that says it is a condition whereby a person suffers from fear of being in places or situations that are outside of their familiar environment.
A person who suffers from Agoraphobia is usually confined to a place and/or person(s) that he is comfortable with and considers as familiar. Any situation that takes this person from such comfort zones could trigger a panic attack.
Agoraphobics are usually afraid of panic attacks or a single symptom of panic attack to strike while they are in public. The fear of such embarrassment is seen as the main trigger for this phobia which in turn triggers and feeds the panic attack and its symptoms.
Agoraphobia causes the sufferer to experience high anxiety or panic attacks even when they attempt to carry out normal tasks if these tasks require them to be away from people or places of safety.
Agoraphobics are sometimes divided into two groups: The first group includes Agoraphobics with a history of panic disorders. The second group includes Agoraphobics without such history. Yet most people who are Agoraphobic belong to the group with the history of panic disorder.
There is a school of thought that says that all anxiety related disorders lie in one place. This place is called the Amygdala. The Amygdala is a small organ in the subconscious brain. This organ is said to be responsible for many emotional decisions including the anxiety response.
There are programs that are based on the above belief and they treat Agoraphobia by treating the sufferer from anxiety in general rather treating the specific anxiety type which is in this case Agoraphobia.
Such programs believe that general anxiety is the source of such types of anxiety and therefore, prefer to treat the source and not the branch.
Understanding Agoraphobia or any anxiety disorder does not mean that we have become experts and that we can make our own diagnosis. If we suspect that we or someone close to us might have symptoms that might indicate such a disorder what we need to do is immediately seek professional help to get an accurate diagnosis.
Then what we can do is speed up our own recovery by introducing ourselves to different natural approaches that have been tried and proved to have effective results. Even then we need to consult with and inform our doctor with the approach that we intend to take so that we don’t hinder our recovery with contradicting approaches.
Read more on how to define Agoraphobia and check the multiple channels we have created for you for more anxiety information and solutions at our Anxiety Centre.
