Agoraphobia. Digital image. Patient.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2013. <https://patientcontent.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/BlogPost/sarah-says/agoraphobia/agoraphobia-2012.jpg>.
Cognitive Factors
- Cognitive hypothesis proposes links between panic and avoidance which takes over the effect of disconfirmations. If patients who are in panic misinterpret the situation it may lead they to expect a disaster. They will not just avoid the situation but also fear the outcome. As the fear they have of the outcomes differ between patients so do the behaviors the adopt to avoid them. It's not anxiety what they avoid and escape nor the situation but the disaster that the person believes is about to happen. In a study of panic patients (Salkovskis, Clark, & Gelder, 1996) the interpretations they made while having a panic attack and the safety seeking behaviors they wanted to use in those attacks were related in the way it was predicted by the cognitive theory. For example, these patients that believed that they were going to pass out during the panic attack were more likely to hold on to people or objects than those who did not have this belief.
- Agoraphobia is a disabling condition. According to Davidson (2002) most of the people who have agoraphobia feel uncomfortable in social situations, where to much people seems to lead personal freedom, and provoke the fear of gaining other’s visual attention in which it causes them to suffer a panic attack.
- Some of the main cause for agoraphobia are faulty thought patterns for example “ If i have a panic attack everyone will think I am an idiot.” Also unhealthy associations are made for example associated spaces that are crowded with fearful and unpleasant feelings.
- As people with agoraphobia have a fear of leaving their home they might think “If I leave I just know I will have a panic attack.” As feeling of panic grow thought patterns worse out of control. The outlook may change their beliefs to “ If I have a panic attack in public I will go crazy and have to be committed.”
LeMouse, Mack. “Agoraphobia Causes, Agoraphobia Symptoms.” http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/12382/1/Agoraphobia-Causes-Agoraphobia-Symptoms.html. web. 22 April 2013.
Star, Katharina. “Do Your Toughts Cause Panic Disorder?” http://panicdisorder.about.com/od/livingwithpd/a/Do-Your-Thoughts-Cause-Panic-Disorder.htm.web. 22 April 2013.