Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia – panic fear of open spaces.

Initially this term meant fear of the market, the market square (usually the biggest area in the city) which is constantly overflowed with people. In the modern world the agoraphobia in the person who is going out of the house or the apartment can be caused:

• Public places (shops, markets, movie theaters, shopping centers);
• Trips in public transport (especially the subway);
• Venues of public actions (meetings, actions, meetings);
• Vacation spots outdoors (parks, forest parks, open reservoirs).

In fact, the agoraphobia is a fear not before open space or accumulation of people, and fear to get into a situation in which nothing depends on you, to feel absolute helplessness and hopelessness of the situation. Frightens not only direct stay in such places, but even the thought of an opportunity to appear in such situation causes a panic attack.

The agoraphobia most often begins at the age of 20-30 years. According to the woman twice more men are subject to this mental disorder.

It is necessary to know that the agoraphobia does not exert impact on mental abilities and physical health of the person in his usual state.

Agoraphobia reasons

The specific reasons of an agoraphobia cannot almost be defined. Scientists, there are a lot of years studying this problem, cannot come to a consensus. But there is a number of factors which can provoke display of an agoraphobia:

• Any difficult psychological situation in which the person appears outdoors (a drunk fight, road accident, act of terrorism) creates a false stereotype what outdoors to be is life-threatening;
• Various psychological frustration of the personality, such as sociophobia, panic attacks, panic frustration;
• Problems with orientation in space when in crowd or on the open place of people loses reference points and begins to feel fear;
• Rich and uncontrollable imagination, the increased emotionality, social vulnerability.

It is considered that the complex of physical and psychological factors can become the reason of an agoraphobia.

Agoraphobia symptoms

The emotional pressure arising at attacks of uncontrollable fear immediately affects work of internals, provoking a vasospasm, muscles of a body, a diaphragm, intestines, a stomach and bronchial tubes. To provide with blood the body compressed tension, heart needs to increase the number of reductions. For this reason the fear or alarm are followed by a cardiopalmus. Respectively, allocate the following main symptoms of an agoraphobia:

• Uncontrollable panic lasting 10 minutes and more;
• Cardiopalmus, breath, pulse;
• Loss of control over own actions;
• Strong sweating, uncontrollable trembling of a body;
• Sharp emission of adrenaline in blood;
• Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea;
• Dizziness, ring in ears, a preunconscious state;
• Unmotivated fear of death.

Treatment of an agoraphobia

Treatment of an agoraphobia is carried out by two main methods which are preferential used in a complex:

• Special medicines (tranquilizers and antidepressants);
• Certain types of psychotherapy (including hypnosis).

Having asked for the help the qualified specialist in time, it is necessary to have patience and in accuracy to follow all its recommendations. Recovery process rather long, but received result costs time spent on it.

If an agoraphobia not to treat, the risk of development of alarming frustration, depressions, drug addiction or alcoholism considerably increases.

The agoraphobia is a serious psychological problem of modern society. The generation of the children growing behind monitors of computers, laptops, tablets matures. For them the usual safe world is on other side of the screen, and behind apartment windows the world unclear, aggressive and hostile. Preference is given to contactless communication via Skype, social networks, chats and ICQ. Products, clothes, household appliances can be ordered through online stores with home delivery. More and more people prefer to work at home on the Internet. All this minimizes need to go out of housing and can become serious premises to development of a mass agoraphobia in the future.