Agoraphobia

Megan BullenPeriod 1

Agoraphobia is an anxiety caused by fear of open spaces because you feel like you can’t get out fast enough.

These places are usually public and have large crowds such as elevators, sporting events, lines, bridges, public transportation, driving, shopping malls and airplanes.

“Agoraphobia” literally means fear of the marketplace.

It is an anxiety disorder that is half phobia and half panic disorder.

Background Information

Symptoms

• Agoraphobia often accompanies another anxiety disorder, such as panic disorder or a specific phobia.

• If it occurs with panic disorder, it usually starts in a person's 20s, and women are affected more often than men.

• If you have agoraphobia, you usually have difficulty breathing, chest pains, dizziness, sweating, nausea, vomiting, numbness, and tingling.

• Though depression is not technically a symptom, 50% of people with agoraphobia also experience depression.

Causes • People usually develop Agoraphobia from being alone in a house for a long time, feeling detached from others, feeling helpless, or feeling like they or the environment doesn’t exist.

• Frequently, people report that the onset of their agoraphobia followed a stressful or traumatic event in their lives.

• Feeling like you can’t get help causes panic attacks.

• No one knows for sure what causes agoraphobia, but there are several theories.

• It could be genetic. • It's also thought that chemical

imbalances are the reason.

Diagnoses

• People diagnosed also experience confusion, heavy and rapid heart beating, and lightheadedness.

• To be diagnosed, you have to meet the criteria of a Panic Disorder.– Anxiety

Treatment• Prevention may not be possible.• There are three main types of

treatment : Therapy, medications, and a combination of both.

• Systematic desensitization is a technique used to treat phobias. You are asked to relax, and then imagine the things that cause the anxiety, working from the least fearful to the most fearful.

• Medications and therapy have been found helpful, but the cure usually comes from confronting your fears.

• Behavior and cognitive therapy are the treatments of choice for agoraphobia. – Research suggests that an

effective cognitive-behavioral recovery program takes 12-16 weeks to significantly reduce anxiety and panic symptoms.

• If panic accompanies the agoraphobia, people are sometimes referred for a brief course of a prescribed medication, such as an anti-anxiety medication.

Meds

• Medication does not offer a cure. • The most common medications

prescribed for agoraphobia are benzodiazepines (Xanax, Ativan, Valium) and SSRI anti-depressants (Paxil, Prozac, Lexapro, Zoloft).

• However, medication stops working when you stop taking it and some medications can be addictive or have bad side effects.

Americans and Agoraphobia

• 3.2 million Americans have agoraphobia.

• Less than one percent (1%) of the population of the United States is thought to have agoraphobia.

Notable People with Agoraphobia

•Woody Allen (1935-), American actor, director, musician.[22]

•Kim Basinger (1953-), American Actress.[23]

•Dane Cook (1972-) American comedian.•Paula Deen (1947-), American Chef.[24]

•Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), American science fiction writer.•William Gibson (1948-), science-fiction author.[25]

•H.L. Gold (1914-1996), science fiction editor; as a result of trauma during his wartime experiences, his agoraphobia became so severe that for more than two decades he was unable to leave his apartment. Towards the end of his life he acquired some control over the condition.[26]

•Daryl Hannah (1960-), American actress.[27]

•Howard Hughes (1905-1976), American aviator, industrialist, film producer and philanthropist.[28]

•Olivia Hussey (1951-), Anglo-Argentine Actress. [29] [30]

•Rose McGowan (1973-), American Actress. [31]

•Robert Pattinson British Actor [32]

•Bolesław Prus (1847–1912), Polish journalist and novelist.[33]

•Peter Robinson (1962-), British musician known simply as Marilyn.[34]