Anxiety or panic attack in public places : is this agoraphobia ?

katatonia82/epictura

Published on 01.01.2018 to 10: 00

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agoraphobieEspacethérapie behavioral

Among the phobias, the most common, agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder very often linked to the anxiety attack. Even if it only affects less than one in 50, it too often remains under-treated so that solutions exist.

The fear of public places in general

Often mistakenly regarded as the fear of crowds, agoraphobia is the fear of going to the spaces of which no one can escape or be rescued easily. The agoraphobic is afraid of having to be in a place where he will be in trouble. It is the fear of not being able to be rescued or helped in a place more than the place itself. At one and the same person, the places phobogènes are often multiple.
With the evolution of the disease phobic, “conducts of avoidance” appear, and the agoraphobic has problems more important to go to places that are closed, such as the metro, public transport, shopping centres, the cinema, the airplane or elevator.

Anxiety uncontrolled

Agoraphobia and the ” panic attacks “, also called ” anxiety attacks “, are closely related. The agoraphobic feels the fear of having an infringement of panic. The anxiety appears when a feeling of confinement, choking, or threatening in a busy location. Sometimes even before it, when the person imagines only ride in a train or an airplane, for example.
Tremors, breathing difficulties, excessive sweating, tachycardia, or dizziness invade the agoraphobic who only think of one thing only : escape. This fear becomes more and more important and create a real handicap in the daily life.

Behavioural therapy for the relief of agoraphobes

Like all other anxiety disorders, agoraphobia can be treated through psychotherapy, which is based on exercises of the imagination of the situations of anxiety, and then by a concrete situation. This type of behavioral therapy is successful in 80 % of cases !
A good lifestyle, a balanced diet, regular sleep, avoiding coffee, alcohol or stimulating substances, are also involved in the reduction of anxiety and panic attacks. Only a comprehensive support over the long term can feel free again, and to soothe his suffering.