A girl lying on the floor with fear. Digital image. Tumblr. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2013. <http://www.google.hn/imgres?imgurl=http://static.tumblr.com/tovna4v/54Tm5odnl/agoraphobia-2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://agoraphobia-support.tumblr.com/&usg=__kO9oqfUl3RqFUqsDuA6Mzd1uAZA=&h=375&w=500&sz=57&hl=en&&zoom=1&tbnid=F5L5F0VVgFsqiM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&ei=Lx1wUYOIF4249gT82YHIDg&itbs=1&sa=X&ved=0CDsQrQMwCA>.
Affective Symptoms (emotions or feelings):
- fear of having a panic attack
- fear of being alone
- fear that a panic attack that will embarrass you in front of people and you will look stupid in front of them.
- sense of helplesnness
- fear of losing control in public
- fear of crowds or places that are full of people that will make it difficult to escape.
- fear that a panic attack will be life threatening. For example, you may be worried that your hear stops or that you will not be able to breathe.
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.
“Agoraphobia Symptoms.” http://www.sound-mind.org/agoraphobia-symptoms.html#.UXSh_SsjqFc.web. 22 April 2013.
Behavioural symptoms include:
Some people force themselves to confront uncomfortable situations but they feel a large amount of fear and anxiety when doing it.
- Avoidance: avoid places and situations that way cause anxiety. In some cases this is mild, in which the person avoids going to a crowded place like a train for example. In extreme cases a person finds it very difficult to even leave their home.
- Reassurance: the person needs to be reassured by another person. For example, if they go to the super market they need to go with a friend. In extreme cases the person cannot be alone at any time.
- Safety Behavior: need to take or have something in order to be able to confront situation or places that may trigger anxiety. Some people have to take alcoholic drinks before leaving to a place that is crowded, while others can not even go outside unless they take their tablets with them at all times.
- Escape: leaving a place or situation that causes stress right away and going back to their house.
Cognitive (thoughts) Symptoms:
these are feelings or thoughts that can sometimes be related to the physical symptoms.
These symptoms include:
- thinking that without the help others you will not be able to survive or function
- thinking that they are going to have a panic attack
- thinking that people will laugh or point what they did
- thinking that people is staring at them
The cognitive theory suggests that in phobic anxiety the behavior of seeking safety is important in the maintaining perceived threat. A person with agoraphobia believes that when they enter a situations such as crowded places it is most likely it will result into a catastrophic physical or mental harm. These catastrophes they fear during a panic attack are: passing out, having a heart attack, going crazy, losing control over their behavior (Clark 1986, 1988).
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 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.
Somatic (physical) symptoms:
They usually occur only when you are in an environment that causes anxiety. But it is rare for people with agoraphobia to experience somatic symptoms as they usually avoid situations that causes anxiety.
These symptoms are very similar to the symptoms of people who suffer from a panic attack which include: fast heart beat, fast breathing (hyperventilating), feel hot and start to sweat, fell sick, stomach hurts, chest paint, hard to swallow, diarrhoea, shaking, feeling dizzy, ringing ears and feeling as if they are going to pass out.
“Agoraphobia.” http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Agoraphobia/Pages/Introduction.aspx. web. 17 April 2013.
Nordqvist, Chrisitan. “What is Agoraphobia? What Causes Agoraphobia?” http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/162169.php. web. 17 April 2013.