Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is the fear of being in open or public places. It includes the fear of being outside the home alone or being in crowds. The terror of not being able to escape quickly from a situation or where help is not readily available if a panic attack arises leads to the avoidances of being out in public. Agoraphobia is categorized as an anxiety disorder. Paper Masters can compose a custom written research paper on Agoraphobia that will follow your guidelines.

Defining Agoraphobia

Anxiety disorder is defined by reoccurring, unexpected panic attacks that affects one's mental health. Two or more sudden panic attacks must take place to be categorized as an anxiety disorder. Other requirements are:

• Chronic worry over repeat attacks
• Worry of the consequences of repeat attacks
• Significant changes in behavior as a result of the attacks

Panic attacks within Agoraphobia are not caused by physical illness, drug abuse, or from addiction to prescription medications, but are a result of sudden episodes of great fear or anxiety coupled with several somatic and or cognitive symptoms. With the onset of this anxiety disorder comes the increase of general panic and apprehension of normal activities along with catastrophic fears known as phobias. Agoraphobia phobia can be a result of a specific traumatic incident that the sufferer relates with being in open or public place.

Diagnosing Agoraphobia in a Research Paper

Before diagnosing Agoraphobia as with any anxiety disorder it must first be ascertained whether the panic attacks are real or other states of anxiety. Are there specific fears and avoidances consistent with phobias? What symptoms if any occur? Once these specific criteria have been met, determining the actual anxiety disorder can be done. Symptoms of a panic attack due to being claustrophobic or agoraphobic can include:

• Palpitations
• Accelerated heart rate
• Pounding of the heart
• Sweating
• Trembling
• Nausea
• Feeling light headed
• Choking
• Feeling unreal
• Fear of dying
• Chest pain
• Fear of losing control
• Shortness of breath
• Numbness or tingling sensations
• Chills or hot flashes

At least four of the symptoms must be reported, but there can be any number or combination of these complications. There is the belief in the psychiatric field that under diagnosis is far more harmful than over diagnosis. Therefore, it can be estimated that at least 5% of the population suffer from anxiety disorders and individual panic attacks affect an even greater portion of the general population.