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However, before you feel ready to take the plunge, perhaps your employer decides it’s time for you to return to the workplace. Rationally, you know that people who had to work outside the home throughout the lockdown didn’t have the same choices that you had if you’ve been able to get your job done from your kitchen table. However, you feel the panic rise as you contemplate losing the luxury of that choice and being forced back into your old routines. That's when you have bursts of fear that come out of the blue and last for a few minutes.
Agoraphobia
A trained clinical interviewer diagnosed the participants with an established standard interview designed to assess these disorders. Participants had the option of volunteering for the project, with no penalty should they decline. To receive a diagnosis of agoraphobia, a healthcare provider will assess your symptoms and check for any underlying medical conditions that might be causing those symptoms.
Agoraphobia quiz
It typically takes an hour-long session each week for 12 to 15 weeks. For short-term relief, your doctor may recommend anti-anxiety medications, called benzodiazepines, in addition to antidepressants. You can start to depend on them, so you shouldn’t take them for long. And be sure to tell your doctor if you’ve had any issues with alcohol or drug abuse. Your doctor will usually treat agoraphobia with therapy, medication, or a combination of the two.
Signs
A lot of the symptoms caused by agoraphobia are the same as those of other medical conditions like heart disease, stomach issues, and breathing problems. So you may make several trips to the doctor or emergency room before you and your doctor figure out what's really going on. Agoraphobia can begin in childhood, but usually starts in the late teen or early adult years — usually before age 35. Females are diagnosed with agoraphobia more often than males are.
By examining these panic appraisal (PA) dimensions, you might eventually find your way out of your COVID-induced agoraphobia. Agoraphobia—derived from the Latin "fear of the marketplace"—is a type of anxiety disorder. It arises from an acute, persistent fear of being somewhere that's difficult or impossible to escape from or of experiencing an embarrassing event in a public place.
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Call your health care provider or a mental health professional if you have symptoms of agoraphobia or panic attacks. The anxiety is caused by fear that there's no easy way to escape or get help if the anxiety gets overwhelming. You may avoid situations because of fears such as getting lost, falling, or having diarrhea and not being able to get to a bathroom. Most people who have agoraphobia develop it after having one or more panic attacks, causing them to worry about having another attack.
Fear of another panic attack can lead to avoiding similar situations or the place where it happened in an attempt to prevent future panic attacks. These situations cause anxiety because you fear you won't be able to escape or find help if you start to feel panicked. Or you may fear having other disabling or embarrassing symptoms, such as dizziness, fainting, falling or diarrhea. Agoraphobia treatment can be challenging because it means confronting your fears.
The therapy is safe and often effective, but it can make someone feel emotionally uncomfortable at times. Some people get better after only a few sessions, depending on the severity of the symptoms. Once you master that, you move to the next situation that causes slightly more anxiety.
Diagnosis of Agoraphobia
These medications can treat depression and anxiety disorders. To sum up, there is value in maintaining vigilance as you emerge from your past year of protectively staying out of public places. Health experts encourage, and some localities mandate, that everyone continue to wear masks and remain socially distant. Eventually, though, these cautions will subside and you will be expected to leave lockdown conditions for good. Agoraphobia can look and feel like other forms of anxiety and panic attacks.
Talking with a trusted friend or confidante can also provide support, but it is not a substitute for care from a mental health professional. Agoraphobia (ag-uh-ruh-FOE-be-uh) is a type of anxiety disorder. Agoraphobia involves fearing and avoiding places or situations that might cause panic and feelings of being trapped, helpless or embarrassed. For example, you may fear using public transportation, being in open or enclosed spaces, standing in line, or being in a crowd. They feel high discomfort and stress and may require another person's company in such situations. Your healthcare provider also may suggest medications called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs).
Typically, people with agoraphobia restrict themselves to a zone of safety that may include only the home or the immediate neighborhood. After a year of lockdown, social distancing, and the constant drumbeat of bad news about COVID-19, it’s quite likely that you have developed a certain amount of fear about ever leaving your home. There is, of course, value in protecting yourself and the people you care about by following public health advice.
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