In short, agoraphobia is one of the many anxiety disorders.
People who suffer from agoraphobia will avoid certain situations because they are afraid that these situations will cause them to panic.
People who suffer from agoraphobia will avoid any situation where they may feel helpless, embarrassed or trapped if they were to panic.
As a result, many of them stop leaving their house altogether.
Public areas, especially areas where there are crowds, make people who suffer from agoraphobia feel uncomfortable.
Agoraphobia can become so bad for a person that they become trapped inside their own home.
Agoraphobia treatment can be challenging because it usually requires the patient to confront their fears.
Agoraphobia Treatment Medications.
Agoraphobia can be treated without prescription drugs, but sufferers can choose to use medications to help them with their treatment.
The most commonly used drugs prescribed for agoraphobia are anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications.
Oftentimes people who suffer from agoraphobia will try a few different types of prescription medications before they are able to find one that works best for their Agoraphobia treatment.
The following are drugs that a patient may be prescribed: A selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (include Paxil, Prozac, Sarafem) A tricyclic antidepressant or monoamine oxidase inhibitor Benzodiazepines (also called anti-anxiety medication, Xanax, Klonopin).
It is important that your physician stays in direct contact with you throughout the course of your agoraphobia treatment if you choose to use medication.
One of the biggest drawback with using medications with agoraphobia treatment is that the side effects can be more damaging than the original symptoms a person suffers from.
Both starting and ending a prescription of antidepressants can cause serious side effects.
To try and reduce these side effects, a physician may prescribe an increased dosage at the beginning of the treatment and then slowly decrease the dosage overtime.
Along with decreasing the dosage, the physician will also continue to monitor the patients agoraphobia.
Agoraphobia treatment and psychotherapy cognitive treatment.
An essential part of any successful agoraphobia treatment is psychotherapy.
There are several types of psychotherapy that can be used to help combat agoraphobia, but cognitive behavioral therapy is the most common form that is used.
The patient learns how to control both panic attacks and agoraphobia during the cognitive part of the therapy.
This part of the therapy helps someone suffering from agoraphobia learn exactly what triggers a panic attack, the symptoms associated with panic, and what can lead them to getting worse.
In psychotherapy, patients learn relaxation and breathing techniques to help them deal with their symptoms better.
Agoraphobia treatment and psychotherapy behavioral.
This part of psychotherapy teaches the patient how to change unhealthy and unwanted behaviors through desensitization of the stimulus.
Exposure therapy is another name for this type of therapy.
The main focus of this part of the therapy is to try and get patients to confront their fears head on.
The theory behind this is that the more a person is exposed to their fears, the more they will feel like they can control the situation.
After this therapy is complete, patients will hopefully be able to go to the places that cause their fear and anxiety.