Tag Archives: Agoraphobia

Will quitting smoking effect my anxiety medicine?

Posted by on August 26, 2010 No comments

Edward Lathrop
Webmaster and Administrator of, as well as contributor to Stop Anxiety Stop Panic.

I am currently taking celexa and I just quit smoking. The medicine is seeming to help with the anxiety a little as it is supposed to but I am still.

Continued here: Will quitting smoking effect my anxiety medicine?

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Anxiety Attacks…..?

Posted by on August 26, 2010 No comments

Edward Lathrop
Webmaster and Administrator of, as well as contributor to Stop Anxiety Stop Panic.

Okay, so for a couple months now, I’ve been having these really weird symptoms; like, shortness of breath, the feeling of being in a dream, shaky,

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Panic Attacks and Agoraphobia

Posted by on January 16, 2010 No comments

Edward Lathrop
Webmaster and Administrator of, as well as contributor to Stop Anxiety Stop Panic.

Panic attacks and agoraphobia are intertwined.  Here’s how:  Look in the dictionary and it will tell you the definition ofStay at Home agoraphobia is “fear of the marketplace.”  Clinically speaking agoraphobia is a condition that makes people afraid to leave home. There are different degrees of this condition and so, many times people suffering from are it simply afraid to visit some places.

Actually, most cases of agoraphobia start with the sufferer being afraid to go one place in particular.  After a while they will fear visiting another spot.  Before long they fear other places and in time they fear visiting the world outside their homes altogether.

Agoraphobia does not exist on its own.  It needs panic attacks to survive.   The simple fact is, agoraphobia is not possible without panic because one who fears leaving home actually experiences panic when leaving home. Simple fear does not impel one to stay at home for the rest of his life.

Panic and Agoraphobia

There is no doubt anxiety panic disorder is part of the condition we know as agoraphobia.  If panic attacks are absent, agoraphobia will not be present either. Clearly, the cure to agoraphobia lies in curing panic attack syndrome.

The first panic attack most people have comes unexpectedly and suddenly.  The sufferer of a panic attack will always seem to blame the place the attack occurred on the fact it did occur.  So, logically, he will not want to return to this place.

Unfortunately, a sufferer of anxiety is liable to have a panic attack anywhere and so, if the panic attack was anything other than just a rare isolated incident, the patient will have another one in a another place and he will then add this place to those he will no longer visit.

Fear of Panic Occurring at a Particular Event

In reality, it is not always places the panic attack sufferer associates with his panic attacks.  It sometimes is certain events he will blame the attack on.  Certain church ceremonies, such as weddings may be associated with panic.  Also, sometimes it is parties, traffic jams, concerts or any other type of an event.   It doesn’t really matter because in the sufferer’s mind the solution is to stay home.

The symptoms of panic attack are very harrowing to the person having them.   These symptoms are feelings that mock very serious events like heart attacks and strokes.    It is only normal to try to stave off such feelings.   Certainly, if avoiding certain events would do it, it would seem reasonable to stay away from them!  However, ot would not be a cure.

The bottom line is curing agoraphobia entails the sufferer visiting those places where he suffered panic attacks.  The cure to panic attacks entails the sufferer of them actually inviting these attacks to occur without trying to avoid them in any way shape or form.  Panic thrives on fear and when we decide we will not fear them, they will cease to exist.  Then, with panic no longer present in one’s life, agoraphobia will wither on the vine. 

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What is the Connection Between Panic and Agoraphobia

Posted by on December 29, 2009 No comments

Edward Lathrop
Webmaster and Administrator of, as well as contributor to Stop Anxiety Stop Panic.
Agoraphobia is defined as fear of the market place. Actually this nervous illness makes people unable toAlone at Home go anywhere outside the home. It is also said to be a phobia of leaving the home.  It is true some cases of agoraphobia keep patients locked up in their homes, other less severe cases cause them to be afraid to venture out to a select few.
 
 Panic attacks are the nourishment agoraphobia lives on. Without panic, this nervous illness cannot sustain itself. So, it can be said agoraphobia is a symptom of panic attack disorder and panic attack disorder is a symptom of anxiety.  Agoraphobia, panic and anxiety are of course, all closely related.  Given enough time, anxiety causesc panic.  Given more time panic may cause agoraphobia. 
 
It is important to note, “fear of the marketplace” is really panic of the marketplace. The radical decision to stay inside one’s home day in and day out is motivated by the patient’s want to avoid panic attack. 

There is no way to look at a case of agoraphobia without seeing anxiety panic disorder.  Agoraphobia is fed by panic. Without panic attacks, it will starve. Agoraphobia will not be cured when panic disorder is present.

The first panic attack is always a surprise and a mystery. Agoraphobia is born when the sufferer of a panic attack associates its horror with the place where it occurred.

Unfortunately, a sufferer of anxiety is liable to have a panic attack anywhere and so, if the panic attack was anything other than just a rare isolated incident, the patient will have another one in a another place and he will then add this place do those he will no longer visit.

In reality, it is not always places the panic attack sufferer associates with his panic attacks. It sometimes is certain events he will blame the attack on.   It doesn’t really matter if it is events or places he is tying to avoid because the way to avoid either one of these things is to refuse to go out of the home.

The symptoms of panic attack are very harrowing to the person having them. These symptoms are feelings that mock very serious events like heart attacks and strokes. It is only normal to try to stave off such feelings. Certainly, if avoiding places and events would do it, it would seem reasonable to stay away from them!

The bottom line is curing agoraphobia entails the sufferer visiting those places where he suffered panic attacks. The cure to panic attacks entails the sufferer of them actually inviting these attacks to occur without trying to avoid them in any way shape or form. Panic attacks thrive on fear and when we decide we will not fear them, they will cease to exist. Then, with panic no longer present in one’s life, agoraphobia’ demise will shortly thereafter follow.

 

 

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Phobia of Leaving

Posted by on November 16, 2009 No comments

Edward Lathrop
Webmaster and Administrator of, as well as contributor to Stop Anxiety Stop Panic.

The phobia of leaving a place where one fears venturing away from can be considered agoraphobia or at least, agoraphobic in nature.  The dictionary definition of agoraphobia is “fear of the marketplace.”  So, it is implied that a person who is afraid to venture out is suffering from agoraphobia. 

Naturally, the place this person would fear leaving would be his or her home.  Generally speaking, the person sufferingstaying home from the fear of leaving home is not afraid explicitly of the marketplace but he or she is simply afraid to go anywhere.  At least, this is true in advanced cases.

Often the fear of leaving starts when the person with the developing phobia has a panic attack away from the home.  Because of this he/she equates the panic attack with the place it occurred and therefore avoids returning to this place. 

As  time goes on, more panic attacks occur at different various places and the sufferer ads these places to those he or she will no longer visit.  Before long everyplace outside of the home is a part of his or her “do not visit” list and a full-fledged case of agoraphobia or phobia of leaving is developed.

To defeat agoraphobia one must first learn to defeat panic.  Once the sufferer learns how to overcome panic attacks he/she can eventually start on a program bringing the him/her back out into the world once again.  No longer fearing an attack will directly lead to no longer fearing what waits in store when the comfort of the home is left behind.  

Still, even at this point some guidance will be needed in order to help the patient gain confidence.  However as the agoraphobia patient gains confidence the panic attacks will no longer control his or her life, fear of leaving home will be well on its way to becoming nonexistent.

Agoraphobia Treatments

Posted by on August 24, 2009 No comments

Edward Lathrop
Webmaster and Administrator of, as well as contributor to Stop Anxiety Stop Panic.

Agoraphobia treatments include a wide range of possible medication usage coupled with either behavioral therapy or congenitive therapy.  Of all these choices behavioral therapy is the one I’ve actually seen work wonders and so it is the one I generally use to help others trying to overcome agoraphobia.

Helping Agoraphobia Patient
Helping Agoraphobia Patient

This is not to say I believe medication to be of no use.  In fact, I believe the opposite.  However, the kinds of medications being used change frequently and not being a doctor, I am loath to prescribe any.  Also true about medication it that it is used to make the nervous illness manageable while the patient is recovering.  The medications in themselves are not agoraphobia cures.  This much the same as a patient being prescribed pain killers while recovering from a broken leg.

Behavioral therapy holds the real cure for agoraphobia because, while agoraphobia patients are generally panicked when they are outside their homes, this therapy gives them a pleasant experience outside their homes.  With behavioral therapy a patient is accompanied while leaving the house, sometimes at a rate of one step further each day.  The turn around happens when the patient becomes impatient with this slow rate of progress and forces the issue. 

When this happens, the therapist tries to keep the patient from progressing further.  At this time, a role reversal of sorts takes place and the cure is near as the patient is emboldened to leave home for longer periods of time.  When this takes place he/she generally becomes interested in visiting more places as well.

Medication could not achieve a thought process change of this kind..  There simply is no pill  which encourages the patient to change his or her thought process or physical activity desires.  Congenital therapy is very helpful in anxiety disorders such as depression because this therapy helps the patient react positively to thoughts he or she used to react negatively to.

However, agoraphobia is an illness which actually involves physically doing things.  So, behavioral therapy holds the most promise for anyone who has a want to be cured of it.

 

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Nervous Illnesses

Posted by on May 16, 2009 No comments

Edward Lathrop
Webmaster and Administrator of, as well as contributor to Stop Anxiety Stop Panic.

Nervous illnesses are the family of illnesses we know as anxiety disorder, panic attack disorder, agoraphobia and combinations of these illnesses.

With anxiety disorder, an otherwise perfectly normal individual suffers from nervousness to the point he/she can no longer conduct his/her life in exactly the way he/she would like to.Cottage, Brent Eleigh

Panic attacks are often the next step after an anxiety disorder takes hold of a person’s life.  Panic attacks come in spells and totally decapitate the sufferer to the point all he/she can do is strive to get through the horrible spell.

Once a panic attack occurs in a public place, the nervously ill person may associate the place of the attack with the panic spell.  So, the sufferer will not return to that place.

Once he/she experiences panic in several places, often this person will become afraid to leave the home altogether.  This fear of leaving home or technically speaking, fear of the market place, is agoraphobia.

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Fear Market

Posted by on April 28, 2009 No comments

Edward Lathrop
Webmaster and Administrator of, as well as contributor to Stop Anxiety Stop Panic.

The medical term for fear market, or more precisely, fear of the market place is agoraphobia.  However, the term agoraphobia is used to describe anyone who is basically afraid to go to any certain place.  The place an agoraphobiac is usually afraid of is anywhere that is crowded and would present a problem for the sufferer to escape from in a real kauf009hurry.  For many, supermarkets and churches are such a places.

In more advanced cases of agoraphobia the sufferer will not be able to leave home at all.  Cases like this usually start with the sufferer being afraid to go shopping (fear of the market) or to church but build to the point where the agoraphobiac will not be able to go anywhere without having a panic attack.

The key to overcoming agoraphobia lies in defeating anxiety and panic attacks.

The fear of being able to get out of a crowded market often causes an agoraphobia sufferer to have a panic attack.

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Agoraphobia

Posted by on April 27, 2009 No comments

Edward Lathrop
Webmaster and Administrator of, as well as contributor to Stop Anxiety Stop Panic.

In ancient Greek, the word agora means market place.  Phobia is of course the fear of.  So therefor, it naturally follows that the word agoraphobia means fear of the market place.  It is as simple as that.

Agoraphobia is brought on when a person reaches a state where he or she is experiencing panic attacks.  It normally happens when this person has such an attack, he or she associates the place where the attack occurred with the panic Coles Supermarket - Chadstone Shopping Centre - by Julia's dadsymptoms and therefor will subsequently avoid visiting this place.

Panic attacks can happen anywhere and so an agoraphobia sufferer may become afraid to go to anywhere outside the home.  However, a crowded market, which could take a long time to exit and has isles that can cause a closed in feeling is a very difficult place for a panic attack sufferer to visit without suffering an attack.

The key to the agoraphobia cure is to being able to overcome panic anxiety disorder.
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