Archive for category Phobias
Important Information About Agoraphobia Panic Attack
Posted by in Panic Symptoms, Phobias on December 7, 2009
The fear of traveling is the common reference to agoraphobia and it is typically considered an anxiety or panic disorder. There are various ranges for this disorder, it can be a serious condition in which a person isn’t able to leave the home entirely or it can be a mild disorder in which a person can’t travel more than a few hours away from home. When a person attempts to go beyond what is considered their “safe” boundaries then they go into an agoraphobia panic attack.
The only way for a person to overcome these attacks is to push their limits, which make treatment of agoraphobia panic attack difficult. Before getting better many agoraphobics tend to get worse for this reason. Since all an individual has to do is stay within their “safe” zone they tend to ignore their agoraphobic problem. However, while the problem can be easy to ignore it is a stifling symptom that comes from a chronic panic disorder.
Begin With Baby Steps
Starting by taking baby steps is the best way a person can slow their agoraphobia panic attacks. In order to finally master their fears the individual must set specific goals to overcome their panic symptoms. Family and friends are the best people to help a person through this process, they can help a person be assured to their safety while helping them make the baby steps to overcome their panic attacks.
Why the panic attacks manifest in their form and what causes them isn’t completely known. It is believed that many of the individuals who suffer from this disorder experienced motion sickness which gave them a propensity for fear of travel before they started developing panic attacks.
The Unknown
To the sufferer themselves an agoraphobia panic attack is very frustrating. This is because an agoraphobic attack is often less rational than the typical panic attacks. While the individual may have a fear to traveling to an unknown place or beyond a certain point, agoraphobia can be caused by any type of anxiety or panic disorders that takes root and leads to agoraphobia.
A fear of public places, especially those where there is a large gathering of people such as a grocery store can develop from a social anxiety. An individual who suffers from general panic disorders can become embarrassed of their disorder which can then cause a fear of traveling and suffering a panic attack in public. This shows that with an agoraphobia panic attack it is difficult to identify and deal with it.
How Agoraphobia Treatment Might Help Your Panic Symptoms
Posted by in Panic Symptoms, Phobias, Social Anxiety Disorder on November 21, 2009
When most of us think about mental disorders, it’s easy to assume that only certain types of people are prone to experience these conditions. As anyone with experience in this territory will tell you, this is not the case. One of the more common mental disorders is agoraphobia, which is a condition that can truly strike anyone already prone to anxiety attacks. You might decide to obtain agoraphobia treatment, but first you have to understand what exactly you are dealing with.
Social anxiety sometimes gets confused with agoraphobia. Since sufferers tend to avoid venturing out for social interaction. Many people believe that agoraphobia is just a fear of leaving your house, or going outside. This is true to an extent, and it can also be viewed as a subset of panic symptoms. If you experience this condition, you often don’t want to go places for fear of bringing on a frightening attack. Panic Symptoms often come first, before agoraphobia starts to develop. But this is not always the case, so be sure to monitor the situations that lead to your symptoms.
Once you realize the specific situations that cause your panic attacks, it will be easier for a doctor to diagnose your complaint and explain your options for agoraphobia treatment. Rememeber, agoraphobia is a form of a panic attack but it is very specific in nature. The word ‘Agora’ is translated into ‘marketplace’ and ‘place where people meet’ in the Greek language. ‘Phobia’ is a fear of something, so in this case, a fear of being in crowded places.
Agoraphobia treatment will allow the sufferer to break the cycle of panic attacks, but it is important to get to the root cause of the phobia. A typical agoraphobia sufferer goes out of their way to avoid crowded places and situations that might lead to a panic attack. They even go as far as to lock themselves in their house for fear of venturing into the outside world. As one should know, this can be a vicious and extremely debilitating mental condition.
Once this isolation occurs, it is time to start evaluating agoraphobia treatment options before the condition gets much worse. Speak to your doctor to discover the treatment that is right for you. If you currently only experience ‘general’ panic attacks, understand that agoraphobia can easily develop down the road and it’s best to kill the problem before it starts. Early treatment of either panic disorders or anxiety disorders will help stop agoraphobia in its tracks.
Avoiding Panic Symptoms When Public Speaking
Posted by in Panic Disorder, Panic Symptoms, Phobias, Social Anxiety Disorder on October 7, 2009
Many people associate anxiety symptoms with public speaking (also related to social anxiety). They usually have had an anxiety-producing public speaking experience. They may test that past memory of public speaking again, but often the same anxiety reaction results. People who have to speak publicly on a frequent basis and suffer from panic attacks are always searching for a panic attack remedy.
Amber’s Story
Amber had many risk factors for panic attacks when she entered high school. Her mother had a history of anxiety as well as her older brother. Amber was successfully able to avoid a speech class until her final semester of school. In order to graduate, she was going to have to take speech.
Although she had never received a diagnosis of panic attacks or an anxiety disorder, Amber had always dreaded taking a public speaking class. Just the idea of standing up in front of a class of her peers caused Amber to feel dizzy and nauseous.
When Amber walked into her first day of class, the teacher could see how nervous she was. He came up to Amber after class and discussed her obvious discomfort with this public speaking class. Amber discussed her physical reaction to having to speak in front of her peers. She explained to her teacher how she was:
* Extremely Anxious
* Dizzy
* Nauseous
* Short of Breath
Amber’s teacher recommended that she visit with the school counselor before their next class meeting. Amber was embarrassed by her reaction and was even more anxious about having to meet with the school counselor, but she knew that she was not going to be able to graduate if she could not figure out some way to get through this class.
The school counselor was very familiar with the signs of a panic attack and especially with students feeling uncomfortable about speaking in front of their friends. To help Amber get through her next day of speech class the counselor recommended that Amber stand up in front of her family every time she wanted to talk that evening.
So Amber told her family what she was trying to do to help get over her fear of public speaking. At dinner, Amber stood up every time she asked to have an item passed to her. Before bed, Amber stood in front of her parents and brothers and did a pretend speech.
Although speaking in front of her family was a lot different than speaking in front of her peers, it did help her get through the next day of class without having a full blown panic attack. Amber was extremely uncomfortable during her speech class but was able to focus and get through the class.
As the semester continued on, Amber asked some of her friends to come to her house the night before she had a big speech due. She would then practice her speech on her close friends and family until she was able to get through it without an extreme amount of anxiety.
The technique Amber used to overcome her panic attacks is called systematic desensitization and is one of the most widely used remedies for people suffering from panic attacks.
Helping people who are seeking an anxiety attack remedy is our commitment to all those experiencing the effects of this challenging malady.
Agoraphobia Anxiety Symptoms
Posted by in Anxiety Disorders, Panic Symptoms, Phobias on September 14, 2009
The emotions of panic, fear, and anxiety are familiar to anyone who has been faced with some threat or danger. However, for some people, rushes of Intense fear (i.e., anxiety symptoms) can occur out of the blue, without any obvious trigger, particularly following periods of stress. Furthermore, in a subset of these people, spontaneous panic attacks occur frequently and independently of stressful life events.
A diagnosis of panic disorder is given to individuals who experience panic attacks frequently (i.e., more than four times per month) or who worry excessively about the occurrence of these attacks. Typical panic symptoms include physical sensations such as breathlessness, dizziness, palpitations, trembling, nausea, and sweating and cognitive symptoms such as fears of dying, going crazy, and doing something uncontrolled.
As a result, many panic attack sufferers develop agoraphobia, a fear of situations in which escape–should a panic attack occur–might be difficult or embarrassing. Agoraphobics tend to avoid crowds, driving, public transportation, large stores, en- closed places, traveling, being home alone, and, in extreme cases, leaving the house. To illustrate the impact of panic attacks on a person’s life, consider the following case history:
Sally experienced her first panic attack out of the blue 3 weeks after completing her senior year in college. She had just finished a job interview and was meeting some friends for dinner. In the restaurant, she began to feel dizzy. Within a few seconds, her heart was pounding, and she was feeling breathless, as though she might pass out. Her friends noticed that she did not look well and offered to drive her home. Sally suggested they stop at the hospital emergency room instead. Although she felt better hy the time they arrived at the hospital, and tests indicated nothing wrong, Sally experienced a similar episode a week later while at a movie.
Sally began to wonder if she had some heart problem not detected by the hospital staff. She found herself scanning her body for unusual sensations. She also felt uneasy about going back to the same restaurant and movie theater where the attacks occurred. Her attacks became more and more frequent. Before long, she was having several attacks per week. In addition, she constantly worried about having attacks. She began to avoid exercise and other activities that produced physical sensations. She also noticed the attacks were worse when she was alone. She began to avoid driving, shopping in large stores, and eating in all restaurants. Some weeks she avoided leaving the house completely. Sally stopped looking tor work, fearing that she would be unable to stay at her job in the event of a panic attack.
Research focused on panic disorder and its treatment has increased dramatically in the past 10 years for several reasons. First, recent epidemiological studies estimate that panic disorder occurs in almost 2 out of 100 people. Second, panic disorder can lead to marked impairment in social and occupational functioning, and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts may be more prevalent than in other psychiatric disorders, including major depression. Finally, agoraphobia is an enormous burden on the health care system. Estimates for the average medical costs (e.g., for tests, medications, hospitalizations) per patient in the first 9 years after panic disorder onset to be over $10,000. With the rapidly increasing costs of health care in the United States, these figures will continue to rise.
Agoraphobia And Anxiety Symptoms
Posted by in Panic Symptoms, Phobias on September 10, 2009
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder tied closely together with anxiety symptoms and panic disorder. Agoraphobia is defined as a fear of any location or place where the sufferer may feel confined and unable to escape an embarrassing or difficult situation (as opposed to social anxiety). An example would be a person who’s had a panic attack on an airplane before and now is fearful of getting on an airplane again due to the association of that negative event.
Agoraphobia is extremely debilitating to sufferers who become fearful of leaving their ’safety zone’ they have built around their lives. Some people become distressed enough to fear leaving the safety of their own homes. This can lead to a downward spiral of anti-social behavior, isolation, and depression.
Symptoms of agoraphobia include:
- Fear of being alone
- Fear of being in a confining space such as an elevator, automobile, or plane
- Fear of crowded places such as a sporting event or shopping center
- Fear of losing control in public places
- Fear of leaving one’s safety zone
- Fear of going in public without a companion
- Sense of helplessness, dread, or fear of a future panic attack
- An increasing dependence on others
In addition to these symptoms sufferers can also simultaneously experience panic attack symptoms such as:
- Sudden feelings of fear
- Hard to breathe
- Feeling out of control
- A strong urge to flee or escape the place where the panic attack began
- A choking sensation
- Having trouble swallowing
- Chest pains or racing heart
- A sudden fear of dying or going crazy
- Shaking and unsteadiness
- Sweating
- Dizziness or lightheaded
- Feeling the need to throw up
About one third of people with panic disorder develop agoraphobia. However, in rare cases agoraphobia can develop without a history of panic attacks. Typically this can occur after a period of extreme stress, worry, or a traumatic life event. Agoraphobia occurs roughly twice as commonly among women as it does in men.
Treatment of agoraphobia is similar to treatment for panic disorder. Treatment is usually very challenging due to the need to confront ones fears head-on. The three primary categories of treatment are antidepressants, psychotherapy, and natural supplements & coping mechanisms.
Without treatment, this condition usually continues to worsen and the ability to function normally decreases.
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