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Agoraphobia
When most people think of agoraphobia, they think of "fear of open spaces" (about the opposite of claustrophobia). However, in psychological terms, that is not what agoraphobia is. It is a complicated disorder, often very crippling.
Agoraphobia is basically the fear of leaving one's "safe place". A safe place could be their house, their home town, or even just their room.
This anxiety disorder is classified as "agoraphobia with panic disorder" and "agoraphobia without panic disorder". The first is probably most common, as people fear having a panic attack in public, then they fear that being in public will trigger one, then they fear having one even more, and so on in a vicious cycle. Agoraphobia, untreated, has a tendency to get worse and worse.
Diagnostic Criteria
- The presence of Agoraphobia related to fear of developing panic-like symptoms (e.g., dizziness or diarrhea).
Criteria for Agoraphobia:
- Anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult (or embarrassing) or in which help may not be available in the event of having an unexpected or situationally predisposed Panic Attack or panic-like symptoms. Agoraphobic fears typically involve characteristic clusters of situations that include being outside the home alone; being in a crowd or standing in a line; being on a bridge; and traveling in a bus, train, or automobile.
Note: Consider the diagnosis of Specific Phobia if the avoidance is limited to one or only a few specific situations, or Social Phobia if the avoidance is limited to social situations.
- The situations are avoided (e.g., travel is restricted) or else are endured with marked distress or with anxiety about having a Panic Attack or panic-like symptoms, or require the presence of a companion.
- The anxiety or phobic avoidance is not better accounted for by another mental disorder, such as Social Phobia (e.g., avoidance limited to social situations because of fear of embarrassment), Specific Phobia (e.g., avoidance limited to a single situation like elevators), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (e.g., avoidance of dirt in someone with an obsession about contamination), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (e.g., avoidance of stimuli associated with a severe stressor), or Separation Anxiety Disorder (e.g., avoidance of leaving home or relatives).
- The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.
- If an associated general medical condition is present, the fear described in Criterion A is clearly in excess of that usually associated with the condition.
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Associated Features
- Depressed Mood
- Somatic/Sexual Dysfunction
- Addiction
- Anxious/Fearful/Dependent Personality
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Differential Diagnosis
Social Phobia; Specific Phobia; Major Depressive Disorder; Delusional Disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Separation Anxiety Disorder; realistic concerns.
Concerned you may have agoraphobia? In addition to professional psychiatric help, try this online diagnostic tool.
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