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"Panic disorder with agoraphobia

Agoraphobia; Anxiety disorder- agoraphobia

Panic disorder with agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder in which a person has attacks of intense fear and anxiety. There is also a fear of being in places where it is hard to escape, or where help might not be available.

Agoraphobia usually involves fear of crowds, bridges, or of being outside alone.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

The exact causes of panic disorder and agoraphobia are unknown. Because panic attacks often occur in areas or situations where they have happened in the past, panic may be a learned behavior. Agoraphobia sometimes occurs when a person has had a panic attack and begins to fear situations that might lead to another panic attack.

Anyone can develop a panic disorder, but it usually starts around age 25. Panic disorder is more common in women than men.

Symptoms

Panic attacks involve short periods of intense anxiety symptoms, which peak within 10 minutes. Panic attack symptoms can include:

• Chest pain or discomfort
• Choking
• Dizziness or faintness
• Fear of being out of control
• Fear of dying
• Fear of "going crazy"
• Hot flashes or chills
• Nausea or other stomach distress
• Numbness or tingling
• Racing heart
• Shortness of breath
• Sweating
• Trembling

With agoraphobia, you avoid places or situations because you do not feel safe in public places. The fear is worse when the place is crowded.

Symptoms of agoraphobia include:

• Being afraid of spending time alone
• Being afraid of places where escape might be hard
• Being afraid of losing control in a public place
• Depending on others
• Feeling detached or separated from others
• Feeling helpless
• Feeling that the body is not real
• Feeling that the environment is not real
• Having an unusual temper or agitation
• Staying in the house for long periods of time"
  
  
  "Agoraphobia (from Greek ἀγορά, "marketplace"; and φόβος/φοβία, -phobia) is an anxiety disorder characterized by anxiety in situations where it is perceived to be difficult or embarrassing to escape. These situations can include, but are not limited to, wide-open spaces, and uncontrollable social situations such as may be met in shopping malls, airports, and on bridges. Agoraphobia is defined within the DSM-IV TR as a subset of panic disorder, involving the fear of incurring a panic attack in those environments. The sufferer may go to great lengths to avoid those situations, in severe cases becoming unable to leave their home or safe haven.
  Although mostly thought to be a fear of public places, it is now believed that agoraphobia develops as a complication of panic attacks. However, there is evidence that the implied one-way causal relationship between spontaneous panic attacks and agoraphobia in DSM-IV may be incorrect. Onset is usually between ages 20 and 40 years and more common in women. Approximately 3.2 million, or about 2.2%, of adults in the US between the ages of 18 and 54, suffer from agoraphobia. Agoraphobia can account for approximately 60% of phobias. Studies have shown two different age groups at first onset: early to mid twenties, and early thirties.
  In response to a traumatic event, anxiety may interrupt the formation of memories and disrupt the learning processes, resulting in dissociation. Depersonalization (a feeling of disconnection from one’s self) and derealisation (a feeling of disconnection from one's surroundings) are other dissociative methods of withdrawing from anxiety.
  Standardized tools such as Panic and Agoraphobia Scale can be used to measure agoraphobia and panic attacks severity and monitoring treatment.

  Attachment theory

  Some scholars have explained agoraphobia as an attachment deficit, i.e., the temporary loss of the ability to tolerate spatial separations from a secure base. Recent empirical research has also linked attachment and spatial theories of agoraphobia."