Agoraphobia is a type of phobia linked with anxiety disorder. It is often misunderstood as merely a fear of crowds or of wide open spaces. But it is actually a more complex type of phobia in which a person feels fear because of the absence of a comfortable escape in any given situation. The person feels trapped because the way out of the situation would be difficult or embarrassing and so the anxiety level increases while there is so sign of easy escape. It is important to understand this disorder before beginning any kind of treatment.

Agoraphobia may be accompanied by other Types Of Anxiety Disorders: such as obsessive compulsive disorder or more frequently, panic disorder. In fact, panic disorder can progress into agoraphobia at some point if not properly treated. Without treatment, a person's ability to function normally will be affected and they will find it difficult to go about daily routines. Because they don't have that comfortable escape route, many situations they encounter may seem dangerous and cause high levels of anxiety.

Therefore, if you or someone you know has a panic disorder then it's time to treat the disorder before it escalates into agoraphobia. How do you know if you have a panic disorder? Not everyone who has a panic attack actually has a disorder-that can only be made official with a doctor's evaluation. A good sign that you may have a panic disorder is the amount of panic attacks you suffer from, and their intensity level. Agoraphobia can begin developing quickly after a panic attack, as a panic attack can be a traumatic experience to recover from. Even if you have agoraphobia and panic disorder it is not too late to seek treatment.

But what kind of treatment is recommended for agoraphobia? There is no standardized treatment for either agoraphobia or panic disorder; since people have so many different personalities, and panic attacks can be as individualized as the patients themselves, no one treatment is sure to cure everybody just the same. Generally speaking, a doctor will recommend either medication or psychotherapy, or a combination of both practices.

Medication may see the use of antidepressants and anti-anxiety pills. There is a slight risk involved, as certain prescription drugs can be addictive and may have serious side effects in use or in withdrawal. Psychotherapy is a safer form of treatment and be highly effective. Drawbacks, however include time and expense, and the treatment is really dependent on the competency of the doctor or counselor. The psychotherapist may involve some form of systematic desensitization, which in this case would see the specialist gradually and safely exposing the patient to the feared situation until coping skills can be learned. This is usually necessary if the patient has already started avoiding places because of the agoraphobia and is slowly developing individual phobias.

While this form of systematic desensitization could theoretically be tried without the use of a doctor, it could be dangerous if not supervised by a professional. The mind is very sensitive and is still susceptible to trauma if a desensitization experiment does more harm than good.

The first step is to talk to a physician about the symptoms you or someone you know is experiencing. Agoraphobia can be treated with proper and quick care.

Tags: agrophobia anxiety, anxiety