What is Agoraphobia?
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People with Agoraphobia suffer from significant fear and anxiety when they encounter any of a variety of public situations. This fear can be extremely restricting; in fact, over a third are unable to leave their homes by themselves due to their illness. As a result, many people with Agoraphobia are unable to work or socialize effectively and will have friends or family run errands for them, such as getting groceries and shopping.
Individuals with Agoraphobia can appear visibly anxious in public places. They will either try to leave or lean on a friend or loved one for emotional support. People fear that they may be stuck in one of these situations and forced to endure a public panic attack. Fear of falling and fear of incontinence are unique to elderly people with agoraphobia, and they also usually fear open spaces and being in lines or crowds. Children with the disorder fear being lost or separated from their caregivers. As a result, the most common situation children fear is being outside of the home by themselves.
Agoraphobia is strongly correlated with panic attacks and Panic Disorder. Although panic attacks are not required for the diagnosis, they are a hallmark of the disorder’s severity. Panic sufferers feel overwhelming waves of doom in addition to somatic symptoms like nausea, dizziness, and chest pain, which frequently bring patients to the emergency room for fear of heart trouble. Agoraphobia is generally chronic and relentless unless met with solid treatment, and increased severity decreases the chances of achieving remission. Even for people who do reach remission, over 50% will experience a relapse at some point.