What Is Agoraphobia?

What is Agoraphobia? By strict etymological definition, the fear of open spaces. However, it tends to be most commonly used as a clinical medical term for those who have a fear of being outside. These fear can become so crippling that the sufferer will avoid leaving their home altogether, which in turn has a huge impact on their quality of life and working prospects.

Agoraphobia is a severe anxiety disorder, a clinical grouping of mental health issues for which there is no definitive known cause. It is often partnered with another anxiety disorder, such as Social Anxiety Disorder or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, though it can be a standalone issue. It has also been linked to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is important to know if the agoraphobia has an underlying cause or if it is a single issue, as if one is treated for the actual condition (OCD or SAD), then the agoraphobia itself usually fades.

In cases where agoraphobia is the only anxiety disorder present, sufferers will feel an overwhelming fear of being outside. This can sometimes just be in unfamiliar or crowded places, but some affected by agoraphobia will not wish to be out of their home at all. If an agoraphobia is required to leave their home, they will become increasingly panicked – often suffering anxiety attacks and physical fear symptoms, such as shaking or feeling sick.

The main treatment for agoraphobia is exposure therapy, whereby a person gradually increases the amount of time they spend outside. This is usually done with psychiatric assistance and observation. While agoraphobia can never be cured, it can be managed, and with effective treatment sufferers can go on to live normal, happy lives.

What is Social Anxiety Disorder?

Social Anxiety Disorder (known as SAD, but not to be confused with Seasonal Affective Disorder) is an anxiety disorder that results in extreme shyness. It affects both men and women equally, and in its severe forms can result in an inability to work or live a normal life.

While many people are shy and find it difficult to be around new people, those with Social Anxiety Disorder suffer more than would be considered normal. They may go out of their way to avoid social situations, often to their detriment, and will experience physical symptoms of fear – such as shaking – in a social environment. They may also blush more frequently, and can sometimes be so nervous of being around people they are physically sick.

SAD is a relatively newly recognized anxiety disorder. Before its clinical recognition, sufferers may have simply been referred to as suffering from “nerves” or just being shy. The disorder is still in its early phases of clinical testing, but responses have been seen with usual anti-anxiety medication and behavioral therapy. While the illness can be overcome with correct psychiatric and psychological treatment, it can never be definitively cured. This, however, is not unique to SAD – no anxiety disorder can be cured, as such.

There is no known cause for SAD, though some sufferers do show lower than normal levels of serotonin (the so-called ‘feel good’ hormone) when tested. Due to its somewhat ambiguous nature, SAD can go undiagnosed for years – sometimes decades – before medical recognition. A primary reason for this is that those with SAD naturally avoid visiting a doctor, due to their condition – a catch 22 situation which will hopefully dissipate as awareness rises.

What Is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a mental illness that falls into the category of anxiety disorders. While it comes in many different forms, the main symptoms of OCD are obsessive thoughts that cannot be controlled. These thoughts are usually on macabre, difficult subjects. One of the main focuses for many suffering from OCD is cleanliness, and a fear of contamination. Such a fear becomes all encompassing, to the point where the sufferer cannot live a normal life any more.

The second behavior that defines OCD is the “compulsive” part, known as compulsions. Compulsions are the result of the obsessive thoughts that are the primary definition of OCD. While a person can be Pure-O (only suffer thoughts, not compulsions), most sufferers do struggle with compulsions. A compulsion is usually a prevention of the obsessive thoughts, an act which is meant to reassure the sufferer (though this is rarely successful). For example, if someone has obsessive thoughts about contamination and germs, they will wash their hands or clean obsessively to alleviate their fears. However, the period of relief is usually shorts – sometimes mere moments – and then the compulsion to clean or wash their hands begins again. While the compulsions supply no relief whatsoever, sufferers cannot stop themselves from performing them.

OCD is listed as 8th on a World Health Organization list of illnesses that most effect quality of life, above cancer and other physical illnesses. However, only 30% of cases are correctly diagnosed by doctors in the first instance. With treatment and diagnosis, OCD can be managed, but never cured.

Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

Anxiety Disorder Symptoms can be the bane of people’s existence, causing sleepless nights and panic attacks that are hugely detrimental to quality of life. While the anxiety attacks symptoms problem or disorder can be managed with medication, most users find this in itself presents problems – namely lethargy, which can be difficult if one needs to work or drive a car. Instead, it is most effective for a sufferer of high anxiety to find other ways to cope with their condition.

Anxiety can be defined as a state of fear which is without justifiable reason. While many people feel anxious upon hearing bad or worrying news, this is a normal level of anxiety caused by a shock reaction of adrenaline in the body – and is usually harmless. Anxiety becomes a problem, known as a disorder, when these moments of high anxiety happen frequently or without just cause.

‘Just cause’ is difficult to define, as usually there will be some basis of fear which is creating the anxiety attack. However, in cases such as those suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, this fear is not in scale with the problem actually presented to the individual – in a sense, an anxiety attack is an overreaction. On the other side, many people experience anxiety for no definable reason (inflated or not) whatsoever.

The most important thing to remember is that anxiety is not a sustainable state. Severe anxiety disorders uses up much of the bodies resources, and within half an hour, even the most severe anxiety disorder symptoms will begin to subside. Sometimes, with anxiety, all you can do is learn to ride it out.

Exposure Therapy: The End To All Anxiety?

Exposure therapy is nothing revolutionary, but it is now being recognized as an effective method of conquering people’s fears and anxieties. It is now regularly included in a program of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which itself is one of the most useful ways of treating a phobia or anxiety program

There is no doubt that exposure therapy is unpleasant. If someone has a clinical mental condition, it will usually be based around a fear of some sort. This fear can be totally irrational, but it can also be a rational fear of a genuine problem – except the level of fear is higher than is necessary, and is out of proportion with the actual threat. Whatever the reason behind it, when people have a fear of something, they will do all they can to avoid it.

Yet avoidance actually feeds a fear and gives it weapons. Subconsciously, when we avoid something we fear, we are actually building another block of dread. We are relieved to avoid the situation, and when we feel relief at avoiding it, we also feel extra fear for what we have avoided. The feeling of relief reinforcing our mind’s incorrect assumption that something is dangerous.

Exposure therapy removes this element by forcing people to face what it is they fear. It works particularly well with phobias, as well as people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It is the epitome of confronting your fear. Yes, doing so is unpleasant and distressing, but with continued exposure therapy you will soon learn there is nothing to fear. Over time, and the help of a mental health professional, any anxiety or mental health condition will improve immeasurably.

The Benefits of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

It may seem like a bit of a mouthful, but Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (known as CBT) is one of the foremost treatments for anxiety and panic disorders – and also one of the most effective. Many patients find a combination of CBT and traditional psychiatrist help and assessment is just what they need to combat their anxiety problems.

CBT is based on retraining the way they brain thinks. When someone suffers from an anxiety problem, it is because their mind is making a subconscious decision or overreaction to a particular stimulus. CBT is designed to find the root cause of the problem, and persuade the mind through therapy sessions and workshops to see things differently. This can remove the element of fear and whatever else may be causing the anxiety, but not by riding over the top of the problem as medication might. Instead, CBT focuses on retraining the brain.

In terms of efficacy, CBT is perhaps the most realistic way of overcoming problems with anxiety. It is replacing conventional psychiatric treatments for some people, who prefer the less intensive and intrusive elements of CBT. A session with a psychiatrist can be quite taxing mentally, whereas CBT is designed to move at your own pace.

CBT is generally conducted by psychologists’, and tends to work as an intensive program of six or eight weeks. Patients can have as many programs as they wish, until they feel they have grasped the problem. When CBT is grasped and the new methods learned, a patient may need nothing more than an occasional refresher course for the rest of their life.

Anxiety Disorders & Medications

We live in a fix-all society, where we are all programmed to think that problems can be fixed quickly and easily. This “have it all, now” mentally extends throughout our lives, and even into our health. It is therefore understandable that, for most people, going to see a doctor and getting medication is the obvious answer to any malady.

This is proven in mental health in that Prozac, an antidepressant, is one of the most prescribed drugs in the world. Anti-anxiety medication, such as Diazepam, and other suppressants are also freely marketed and used as an answer to anxiety problems. Yet it is worth considering the downsides of such medication.

The problem with medicating yourself through periods of severe anxiety is that, at some point, you are going to need to stop taking the medication. The only other option is to medicate forevermore, and spend the rest of your life in a drug-addled state. All the anti-anxiety medications have a sedative quality, even if it is mild, which can make you feel sleepy and lethargic. This is the point, of course, as in quelling your conscious mind the medication in turn quells anxiety, but this is nothing more than a short fix solution.

While medication can dull an anxiety attack, they can’t cure it. No prescription medication can definitively “cure” a mental illness, they can only lessen its impact. So unless you are willing to accept that you will be heavily medicated for the rest of your life, it is more beneficial to seek psychiatric and psychological therapy rather than reaching for the pills. It may take longer, but the results will last longer, too.

When Anxiety Strikes

Panic attacks can be the bane of your existence, and can make being out and about in the world extremely daunting. Never knowing when – or why – an attack can hit makes life unpredictable, and searching for a way to control your anxiety is a natural step to take.

Most anxiety attacks come on suddenly – however, there are usually warning signs that one is about to strike. It may only be a few seconds warning, but try and identify the signs that things are about to get complicated. You may feel your chest tighten, feel lightheaded or begin to shake – all are the immediate signs of a rush of adrenaline, which is one of the main identifiable psychological reasons for an anxiety attack.

As soon as you feel an attack beginning to develop, stop what you are doing. If you’re driving, pull over, and try and sit down if you’re standing or walking. As the attack begins to flower, take slow, steady breaths. Breathe in for five seconds, and out for five seconds. One of the main things people do when they are experiencing an anxiety attack is to breathe in short, sharp gasps; by slowing and focusing on your breathing, you are distracting your mind and resetting the scales.

Keep breathing in this fashion. If necessary, close your eyes and tilt your head back so you have a clear throat passage for air to move through. You may also find some form of self-comforting useful; try rubbing the side of your wrist with a fingertip. Remain calm, focus on your breathing and rest until the anxiety and panic attack has passed.

Conquering Fear – How To Fight Your Phobia

The guide below is a brief, start up guide for those wishing to conquer their phobia (or phobias) once and for all. For ease of use, the fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) is used as an example – though the steps are applicable to any fear.

1. Expose yourself to the fear.

If you have a phobia, you probably go out of your way to avoid the thing that causes you to feel afraid. In the claustrophobia example, you may refuse to use lifts, as they make you feel uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, by avoiding the scenario you fear – the lift – you are actually increasing your overall fear. Avoidance does nothing but make a situation worse, and you need to face the fear before you can conquer it. That means getting into a lift, even if just for one floor. Make yourself do it.

2. Positive reinforcement.

After you have forced yourself to confront your fear once, you need to make it a positive experience. This can be having a dessert you enjoy following your ordeal, or buying something nice from your favorite store. Do this as soon as possible following your first attempt to confront the fear – in the example, you should tuck into a cupcake the second you step out of the lift.

3. Rinse, and repeat.

The way to conquer a phobia is to do the above, over and over again. As you do so, you will learn to manage the fear, and you will also learn that there really is no danger in that which panicked you so badly before. By continuing to expose yourself to your fear deliberately and then allowing a congratulatory moment when you succeed, over time, you can rid yourself of the fear forever.

Terrors and Frights: Common (And Not So Common) Phobias

A phobia is an extreme, fearful reaction to an object, animal, insect, feeling or circumstance – they are wide and varied, and often have no rational explanation. The vast majority of the populace have at least one phobia, and many people go as far as to seek help for conquering their phobia from medical professionals. So what are we all so afraid of?

The most common phobias tend to involve insects and creepy crawlies. Polls done in the United Kingdom suggest spiders are the most common source of phobias, and other many-legged creatures also cause fearful reactions. Mice are another common source of fear, as are their larger cousins, rats.

In terms of animals, dogs tend to rank high on the phobia-causing list. This can be any dog, not just a big, growling Alsatian – some people admit to being afraid of the meek and mild poodle! The other domestic favorite, cats, also contribute their fair share when it comes to phobias.

Other phobias are more based on situations. Many people are afraid of heights, which connects with another popular fear – the fear of flying in aircraft. Another common situational fear is crowded spaces, known as claustrophobia, with sufferers refusing to use lifts. Furthermore, some adults even confess to being afraid of the dark.

More interesting are the uncommon phobias. Amazingly, a phobia of buttons is fairly common, consigning thousands of people to a life with zips. Other odd phobias include mirrors, large structures in general and even humble cotton wool. When it comes to phobias, there really is something for everyone!

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