Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia Symptoms

The essential features of agoraphobia is anxiety about being in places or situations where a possible escape might be difficult (or embarrassing), or the possibility to receive help in situations of a panic attack is reduced.

Some of the agoraphobia symptoms can be confused with symptoms of other anxiety disorders. Anxiety and the avoidance behaviors in agoraphobia are triggered by fear of an impossible escape or receiving help in case of a panic attack or an episode of panic-like symptoms. In social phobia, anxiety and avoidance behavior is limited to social or performance situations in which the person fears humiliation or embarrassment. In specific phobia, the person avoids only specific feared objects or situations (like elevators, heights, bugs, snakes). In obsessive-compulsive disorder, the avoidance behavior is triggered by the fear of contamination. In post-traumatic stress disorder, the person avoids stimuli associated with a severe stressor, while in separation anxiety disorder, children avoid situations that take them away from home or close relatives.

When agoraphobia is accompanied by panic attacks, some of its additional symptoms include:

• Rapid heart rate
• Trouble breathing
• Lightheadedness
• Dizziness
• Excessive sweating
• Flushing
• Nausea and vomiting
• Upset stomach or diarrhea
• Trouble swallowing
• Chest pain
• Feeling of losing control
• Jitters
• Fatigue
• Intense fear of dying
• Intense fear of going crazy

Article by Alina Morrow
MS Psychology
Medical Writer
OmniMedicalSearch.com

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