Your Ultimate Health Guide

A person with agoraphobia may not leave his home for years. Yet, he welcomes visitors but only if they are in defined places and rooms where help can be sort immediately.

Agoraphobic may experience severe panic streaks when he feels that he is being trapped. He may feel insecure and very uncomfortable with the place. For the most severe cases, an agoraphobic prefers a single room and may become bed-bound until the over-stimulation of his nervous system subsides and his adrenaline level becomes normal.

Also, during attacks agoraphobics may become overly conscious with the happenings in their bodies. Even a slight change in their heart rate may start a panic attack. It is often that an agoraphobia sufferer will interpret the conditions in which he is experiencing the initial attack of agoraphobia as the start of a heart attack. Some examples are climbing of stairs that causes increased heart beat and rate of breathing.

Though agoraphobia is a single condition, it may be associated with some other fears such as :-

1. Fear of loneliness or of being alone

2. Fear of failing to control one self in a public place

3. Fear of difficulty of escaping in specific places

4. Fear of detachment from others

5.Feeling of helplessness

6. Too much dependence on other people

7. Feeling of unreal body

8. Feeling of unreal environment

9. Panic attack or anxiety

10.Unusual temper

11. Agitation accompanied by trembling or twitching

Agoraphobia affects mostly women. There are twice as many female agoraphobics as there are male agoraphobics.

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Agoraphobia is a word associated with phobia or the fear of something. It is often misconceived as fear of “open spaces”. Misconceived because in actual fact, it is not. Agoraphobia can be defined as fear for crowded places and spaces that may be associated with fear of the public (where there is no escape).

And contrary to what is popularly believed, agoraphobics are only afraid of crowded and confined spaces. They are certainly not afraid of open spaces such as houses of worships, shopping, traveling, being alone and social gatherings.

To prove the point further, the root terms of the word “agoraphobia” are agora, which means “marketplace” in Greek, and phobia, which means “fear”. Combining these two terms, we can say that it is the “fear of the marketplace” – which is not an open space but a crowded place. The word “agora” also has the earlier meaning of “a place where people gather”. Thus, the most accurate meaning of agoraphobia is a “fear of crowded places”.

People can start to experience agoraphobia when they consciously avoid busy places and places that may be linked with closed spaces. Sufferers may panic when overly stressed even when though the condition that starts the panic is not longer present. This will turn into a vicious cycle where the person will begin to experience panic disorders or states related to panicking. For some people, the fearful state will continue until the general feeling of fear diminishes.

In short, agoraphobia is both a severe anxiety disorder and a phobia. But more on this anxiety disorder condition in the next post…

Popularity: 21% [?]

4. Social phobia

This is also termed as social anxiety disorder. Social phobia is characterized by overwhelming self-consciousness and extreme anxiety. This can lead to the actual anxiety attacks. The fear arises because he/she thinks he/she is being watched, observed and judge by people surrounding him.

5. General phobias and a number of specific phobias

These produce intense fear that may have insignificant effects on the person. Normally phobias are irrational. But even if the sufferer knows that it is irrational, he still cannot reverse his fears or the cause of his actions. People who suffer from phobias may be prone to extreme panic attacks just by thinking of facing their fears!

6. Post-traumatic stress disorder

This is typically caused by a single traumatic event that is embedded in his memory. During times that they are being hunted by this unwanted memory, they become emotionally numb.

The 6 conditions discussed so fat are the major categories of panic disorder that can cause anxiety attacks. Knowing them may help you identify the condition early and seek help.

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Basically, there are 6 categories of anxiety disorders (or conditions) and each have their own underlying symptoms which you can look out for :-

1. Panic disorders

These are characterized by intense fear and anxiety along with sensations of terror and doom without apparent reasons. They may come with symptoms that come from nowhere and may seem irrational to the observer. Some symptoms are : sudden rise of heart beat, sensation of being unable to control oneself that may border to the feeling of madness, nausea, chest pain, numbness along with others. Normally, the maximum duration of each attack is about 30 minutes but the symptoms can last more than that.

2. Generalized anxiety disorder

This is a form of chronic anxiety that is felt during the whole course of a person’s life. Characterized by exaggerated tension and fear. Why do they worry? It could be anything from issues of work, family and even the anticipation of what may lie ahead.

3. Obsessive-compulsive disorder

This is composed of rituals, activities and thoughts that the person feels that he must do in order to “complete the day”. In other words, he/she is obsessed with something. Very often, the person having this disorder cannot control his persistent behavior such as repetitive washing of hands or wiping of certain things.

More in the next post…

Popularity: 17% [?]

If you suffer from anxiety disorder, you may have been told that you have to endure the condition for the rest of your life. You may also have been told that there is little that medical science can do to help you overcome the symptoms. Altought these are true in the past, they are no longer true today – thanks to rapid developments in treating anxiety attacks.

Anxiety and panic attacks are normally categorized under one type of mental disorder – the psychological make-up and biological factors of the brain.

There are many conditions associated with anxiety disorder that you should be aware of. Each of these unique conditions have common symptoms that you can look out for.

Anxiety attacks often start with some underlying symptoms which later develop into more advanced symptoms. Among these are the feeling of being overwhelmed, intense mood swings, excessive worrying, extreme depression and unexplainable stress and fear.

What are these conditions? Find out more details in my next post…

Popularity: 16% [?]