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Agoraphobia is "anxiety about, or
avoidance of, places or situations from which escape might
be difficult (or embarrassing) or in which help may not be
available in the event of having a
panic attack or
panic-like symptoms.”
(DSM-IV)
Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety
disorder. The term “agoraphobia” comes from the Greek words
agora (αγορά), meaning “marketplace,” and phobia (φόβος),
meaning “fear.” Literally translated as “fear of the
marketplace," people with agoraphobia are afraid of open or
public spaces.
In reality, most people with
agoraphobia are not so much afraid of open and public places
as they are afraid of having a panic attack in these
settings, especially settings in which there may be no one
to help in the case of a panic attack or actual emergency.
Most people with
agoraphobia are afraid of any setting where they feel stuck
and they may make a fool of
themselves by having a panic attack in front of other
people. Many people with agoraphobia are afraid to venture
anywhere outside of their
house.
In settings with people, most people with agoraphobia are
afraid of what others will think if they show the outward
signs of a panic attack. But people with agoraphobia are
also afraid of settings
without people, such as walking alone in nature or even
being left at home alone. This is because people with
agoraphobia are afraid of having a real medical emergency in
the absence of others to help.
The
symptoms of
agoraphobia can make you feel like there is
something wrong with your physical body, as if you are
having a heart attack or you are choking and unable to
breathe. Because of this, many people with agoraphobia
develop a fear of having a medical emergency with no one
around to rush them to the hospital.
This fear of being in
open spaces with no one around is what sets agoraphobia
apart from social anxiety disorder. People with social
anxiety disorder are only afraid of situations that include
other people. People with agoraphobia are afraid of being
anywhere other than their safe place, in the presence or
absence of other people.
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