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WHAT IS AGORAPHOBIA?
The word derives from the Greek, the agora being the market place,
or place of assembly, and a phobia being an irrational fear. Sufferers typically experience intense fear in a range of situations
where they perceive escape is not easily possible or help is not readily available. Examples of such situations are crowded
shops, trains and tubes, lifts, motorways and being away from the security of home or a trusted companion. In turn, there
may be abnormal worry about possible loss of control, socially inappropriate behaviour, physical illness such as heart attack,
incontinence, fainting, going mad or dying. Sufferers may therefore often avoid a whole range of situations and day to day
activity and may become housebound.
Panic attacks may be limited to specific phobic situations, but sometimes
occur more generally. Many people often experience depressive symptoms, but generally these improve when the agoraphobic problem
has been treated.
THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM
There are various estimates, but probably
1% of the population suffer agoraphobia of such severity as to cause considerable distress and significant impairment of day
to day function. However, up to one in ten of the population may have difficulty dealing with one or two of the situations
mentioned above.
CAUSES
No single cause of agoraphobia has been identified. It tends to appear in early adulthood and is triggered in the first
instance by an unexpected panic attack. The first panic is reported to occur "out of the blue". The person then begins to
fear the occurence of another such attack and begins to avoid those situations which they believe may cause or worsen these
attacks. The cause of the initial panic is only just beginning to be investigated systematically. Some relevant factors may
be: life stressors, early experience with loss of control, a tendency to breathe too quickly, fluctuations in various brain
chemicals and the misinterpretation of normal anxiety symptoms.
TREATMENT
Treatment for agoraphobia has traditionally
involved the use of medications such as tranquillizers e.g. Lorazepam (Ativan). In the last 25 years psychological treatments
(involving behavioural and cognitive behavioural methods) achieve 70% or greater reduction in the problem.
There is no doubt that the central component of effective treatment is
helping the sufferer to face their fears in graduated doses of difficulty. This treatment is commonly called exposure therapy
and may sometimes require a therapist to help the sufferer enter the situation they fear. However, exposure therapy can often
be carried out with a small amount of guidance from a professional or with a self help method. The principle underpinning
this therapy is very simple, i.e. that if you stay in the situation and this exposure is repeated systematically, the anxiety
fades away. In some cases the therapist may use methods which help the client re-evaluate their anxious thoughts by the use
of cognitive techniques, i.e. to learn, for example that "everyone is not watching me". In addition some attempt can be made
to deal with unexpected panic attacks using breathing exercises and cognitive methods.
Therapy may be carried out by suitably trained mental health professionals,
i.e. clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses and social workers, but increasingly these methods can also be used within
self help programmes. Books containing such methods may be helpful and there are also a number of organisations, e.g. No Panic,
Phobic Action, and Triumph Over Phobia, which may assist the sufferer.
SOURCE:
BABCP - http://www.babcp.com
BABCP General Office
Globe Centre
PO Box 9
Accrington, BB5 2GD
Tel: 01254 875277
Fax: 01254 239114
email: babcp@babcp.com
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