Symptoms Of Agoraphobia And Its Treatment
Symptoms of agoraphobia include being very anxious to go out. Victims are terrified of leaving their homes and are often affected by such fears. They prefer to stay at home rather than go out. Agoraphobics tend to behave this way because they think they might get caught up in some terrifying event. It’s not just a preconceived notion that something could happen to them. Rather, his apprehension is based on a very traumatic experience. That experience had been the trigger for these agoraphobic symptoms.
“You, sir, may have forgotten how good your world can be.” – is a line from a song written by the band Incubus considering the plight of agoraphobia.
Sometimes the symptoms of agoraphobia are extremely difficult to manage. People suffering from agoraphobia panic at any unexpected situation and become tremendously anxious. Just by going outside, they can get hot flashes and chills, and this leads to an increased heartbeat. They can really shake and sweat could choke. An exciting fear of death attacks them. They start to feel like they are going crazy. This is most commonly seen in those who have frequent panic attacks.
Agoraphobia sufferers usually distance themselves from everything else. They go into complete loneliness after going through a bout of agoraphobia symptoms. They think it would be safer to stay locked up like this in case another panic attack happens. Instead of being affected by these fears and getting tense in the open air, they feel much more comfortable being at home with their family or in the hospital with the doctors. Agoraphobia symptoms can be unbearable in some serious situations. Some who have survived the first shock are very afraid of another experience. So they try to isolate themselves from the world thinking that they could avoid it.
Agoraphobia means being afraid of any circumstance that is not controlled and occurs in a dangerous place. People often have the misconception that agoraphobia means being afraid of open areas. Agoraphobics shorten their lifespans due to their fear of death because they stay imprisoned all the time. Obviously their quality of life is reduced.
Because agoraphobia stems from restlessness, it is best treated if the restlessness can be reduced.
Although medications are used to control conditions related to worrying too much, they are not used to treat agoraphobic symptoms. Medicines are only given to patients with agoraphobia to calm them down so they don’t have frequent panic attacks. The main problem is not being able to differentiate between a “safe” and an “unsafe” place. So they need to understand the difference. This cannot be done with medication. So they have to be treated in some other way.
Through the use of medication, some victims of agoraphobia have been able to get out of this problem. But they need to understand that there is no need to differentiate between any area being “safe” or “unsafe”. Medications alone cannot cure this wrong differentiation.
To cure agoraphobic symptoms, many methods have been taken. Effective treatment includes proper management of such attacks of being very worried and afraid. These can be measures to calm the tension and nervousness of the victim.
Measures like showing them simple visualizations can help them believe in themselves. Breathing exercises and muscle relaxation techniques can be helpful in dealing with stress. As victims see that these agoraphobia symptoms can be managed, they will realize that there is really nothing to fear. It is quite easy and if you keep calm the symptoms of agoraphobia can be cured. The confidence boost they get from this will help them understand that there is nothing like “safe” and “unsafe” as they used to think before.
Naturally curing panic attacks helps to better treat this disease. This is because the problem is dealt with at the basic level. The victim is helped to get out of the fear of being affected by anxiety. This is obviously a better way than using drugs. Only apparent disorders can be treated with medication.
