Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder which consists of the fear of experiencing a difficult or embarrassing situation from which you cannot escape. You get anxiety attacks, from being where your life is going along the normal path that you’ve set out when suddenly without any warning terror has you in its grip. As a result, severe sufferers of agoraphobia may become confined to their homes, experiencing difficulty traveling from this "safe place".

Agoraphobia is a condition which develops when a person begins to avoid spaces or situations associated with anxiety. Typical "phobic situations" might include driving, shopping, crowded places, traveling, standing in line, being alone, meetings and social gatherings. Agoraphobia is not what many seem to think, avoiding open spaces. The term agoraphobia has been widely misunderstood. Its literal definition suggests a fear of "open spaces".

Agoraphobia is a condition that develops gradually. In general it occurs after a panic attack. After the first attack you may subconsciously be preparing for another attack and fearing the symptoms that will leave you feeling helpless. This cycle of panic attack and impending panic attack can cause you to change your entire lifestyle just to avoid those feelings of terror. As panic attacks can occur anywhere at anytime, we generally associate the first place that we feel helpless as perhaps the reason for our terror.

Like panic disorder, agoraphobia is one of several anxiety disorders. Agoraphobia may occur with or without panic disorder, but it is most frequently seen with panic disorder. If treated quickly and properly, panic disorder may not progress to agoraphobia. Once the condition progresses, it is all the more difficult to treat.

An agoraphobia sufferer will go out of their way to avoid those places and situations where a panic attack and and anxiety symptoms may occur. They may even end up being housebound as they avoid being in crowded places. This unhealthy lifestyle can in itself trigger agoraphobic attacks to occur in everyday normal situations. The increased heart rate may also cause a panic attack because you may think that you’re having a heart attack.

As you can see this is a vicious and extremely debilitating mental condition. For sufferers of panic attacks they should seek the medical aid of doctors who specialize in these mental disorders and receive treatment before their panic attacks spiral into agoraphobia where they may end up being restricted in their lifestyle due to their ever increasing fear of being helpless in the face of a panic and anxiety attack.

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