If “dangerous” situations are avoided and there’s no panic attack, why does the fear not go away?īecause with this map of safe places and avoidance of certain situations, they never feel like “nothing is wrong” or “nothing about this is dangerous.” The false security felt by someone with agoraphobia does nothing more than incubate their growing fear. In many cases, these behaviors are superstitious and avoidant and make the person feel that everything is under control. Therefore, it’s noteworthy that people with agoraphobia unknowingly perform self-deceit and develop behavioral patterns associated with security. This is still true even if they’ve had anxiety or panic attacks in their home. Also, these behaviors increase their fear, gradually making it worse.ĭespite the continuous fear of fear they feel throughout the day in different situations, they feel protected and less vulnerable in their own home. It lowers their self-image and makes them feel even more disabled. These precautions are avoidance behaviors that only limit their practical and emotional independence. Thus, they begin to be afraid of feeling this fear (the panic attack) and take precautions to reduce their exposure. Some people even feel that they’re going crazy or will lose control of their bowels.
Since this experience triggers their deepest and most primitive fear (an intense activation of the cerebral amygdala), they believe they’re going to die or are about to faint. In most cases, people with agoraphobia have previously experienced a panic attack or very intense episode of anxiety.
It’s a result of negative self-image and the feeling of disability they experience when it comes to doing day-to-day tasks. For this reason, a fear of fear almost always goes hand-in-hand with symptoms of depression. Likewise, someone with agoraphobia may become completely incapable of leaving places they have defined as “safe” if they’re not in the company of someone they trust. If they have to go further and cannot avoid the situation, they go with someone they trust. Then they only frequent places where they aren’t afraid they’ll have a panic attack. That’s why the individual creates a kind of “map” of the places where they feel safe or insecure. In other words, agoraphobia is defined as a fear of fear. Thus, they avoid leaving their home and limit the places they go. Actually, they’re afraid of experiencing an anxiety or panic attack in that place. When someone suffers from agoraphobia, they’re actually not afraid of being in an open space or in a crowded room. Additionally, we’ll provide a set of practical ideas so that this phobia won’t limit your everyday life.Īgoraphobia: more than a fear of being in open spaces In this article, we’ll briefly explain the emotional functioning of agoraphobia, what causes and maintains it. Instead, a person with agoraphobia is extremely afraid of experiencing intense fear that will provoke a panic or anxiety attack. It’s not that waiting in line or being at the movies is the problem per se. That’s why the underlying problematic emotion in the case of agoraphobia is a fear of fear. The intense fear of being in those situations (in most cases) revolves around experiencing a panic attack and not being able to escape or receive help. Waiting in line or being in the middle of a crowd.Ģ.Being in closed places (theaters, concert halls, malls).Being in open spaces (parks, bridges, streets).An intense fear of two or more of the following situations:
#Pathological fear of the swamp manual
According to the DSM-5, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, agoraphobia is characterized mainly by two diagnostic criteria:ġ.
Many times this disorder is mistakenly defined as “the fear of open spaces or spaces that are very crowded.” This is not entirely correct.Īctually, agoraphobia is more than a fear of open spaces it’s characterized as a fear of fear.
A lot has been written and spoken about agoraphobia.
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