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Criteria for Agoraphobia
1. Anxiety about being in places or situations where excape is difficult. Or where help is not readily available if something should happen like a panic attack. Agoraphobic fars usually involve situations like being outside of the home (alone or with a companion),being in a crowd, standing in line, being on a bridge, traveling in a train, bus, automobile, or plane.
2. The situations are avoided or restricted or endured with much stress or anxiety about having a panic attack. Or require a companion what we survivors call a safe person.
3. The anxiety or phobic avoidence is not better accounted for by another mental disorder like social phobia, specific phobia, separation anxiety etc.
Since phobias could be labelled "panic with an object", i.e., they are panic crises which occure only in specific situations or places, it is important to understand how a panic crisis is formed. For this, it might be interesting to compare your brain to a car which is fitted with an anti-theft alarm device, of the kind which is touched off just by rocking its chassis a little bit. This "alarm device" is located in one of the most ancient parts of our brain, particularly what we call the "limbic system", which is responsible for controlling "fight-or-flight" reactions. Our internal alarm sounds only in situations where there is real danger. For many people, however, the alarm sounds for no apparent reason (by analogy, this happens in cars sometimes, as you may have seen, in parking places). This is what we call the panic attack. For other people, the alarm is switched on in improper situations and places, such as inside a lift, enclosed places or on your way in the traffic. This is what we call a phobia.
Treatment for agoraphobia usually consists of both medication and psychotherapy. Usually, patients can benefit from certain antidepressants, such as Elavil, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as Paxil, Prozac, or Zoloft. In addition, patients may manage panic attacks in progress with certain tranquilizers Xanax or Klonipin. The most prevalent treatment for agoraphobia and other phobias is cognitive behavioral therapy. A specific technique that is often employed is called desensitization. The patient is gradually exposed to the situation that usually triggers fear and avoidance, and, with the help of breathing or relaxation techniques, learns to cope with the situation. This helps break the mental connection between the situation and the fear, anxiety, or panic. Some may benefit from additional psychotherapy, discussing underlying emotional conflicts with a therapist or support group.
With proper medication and psychotherapy, 90% of patients will find significant improvement in their symptoms.
Prognosis
Associated Features
- Depressed Mood
- Somatic/Sexual Dysfunction
- Addiction
- Anxious/fearful/dependant personality
Links
Email: debisunshine@hotmail.com
