Hi, this is Gena with a pebble on the Anxiety Road on Agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is an intense fear and it is the fear of being in an open place or specific places where it's hard to escape or help might not be available. There's also a possibility that the condition is associated with panic attacks, depression, and PTSD. People with agoraphobia might need someone to accompany them to a store, a church, or the movies. There's a range of how a person can experience the condition.
It can be a person that only goes to their job, the store, and then back home. A few years ago, there was a CBS This Morning news story about a man who had the condition. He lived across the street from his job, and that was as far as he traveled for years until he got help. Other people can travel in their immediate area, but not to a public place such as an airport or a music festival. Then you also have people that are totally housebound. They literally cannot leave their homes.
Some of the symptoms can include chest pains, rapid heartbeats, sweating, trembling, fear of not being able to escape or lose control in public, and panic attacks. Basically, the person engineers their life so that they are never really too far away from home or their safe place. I do have some information resources for you. The National Institute of Mental Health has a book on panic disorders. This is the U.S. Institute of Mental Health.
For those of you that are in Australia, there is the betterhealth.vic.gov.au, and for people in the UK, there is an NHS page on the condition. If you want to learn more about agoraphobia, there is the nonprofit helpguide.org, and they have a pretty extensive page about agoraphobia. If you're in the U.S. or Canada, Psychology Today has a directory of mental health providers. You can search by city or zip code.
And if you're looking for a community or people who understand where you're coming from, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America has an online peer-to-peer support group. It is a meeting place for people that have a variety of anxiety conditions, including people that have agoraphobia. You do need to join the group and abide by the group's guidelines. That's it for now. I'll catch up with you next time on the Anxiety Road.
You can visit anxietyroadpodcast.com for links and other information resources. You can listen, download, or subscribe to the podcast via any of the free podcasting apps such as Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Gaana, Pandora, or on the web at listennotes.com. Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. Always seek the advice of a qualified health care provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.
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