You don't have to hide from your fears anymore! You can be free to live your life the way you want to without the fear of sudden Anxiety or Panic Attacks. Live your life free from the stifling pressure of agoraphobia and go where you want to whenever you want to. If you hear about someone being agoraphobic, you get the immediate mental image of a recluse who hides from people. You would also figure that a person with agoraphobia would avoid social situations. But if you did, you would be wrong.
Agoraphobia Is Related To The Pain of Panic Attacks
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.
An agoraphobia sufferer will go out of their way to avoid those places and situations where a panic attack 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 attack.
Occurrence and DiagnosisMost people develop agoraphobia after the onset of Panic Disorder.
Panic disorder is simply recurring Panic Attacks. About 2 percent of the population will at one time or another face Agoraphobia or Panic Attacks. Usually women are twice as likely to be overcome with Panic Attacks and Agoraphobia. It is important for you to understand that Agoraphobia is the adverse reaction to repeated Panic Attacks and not a physical condition.
TreatmentsThe most common treatment for Panic Attacks and Agoraphobia are the use of anti-anxiety or antidepressant medications. Also a gradual process of exposure therapy will help one overcome the cycle of Panic Attacks and Agoraphobia. A qualified physician or therapist must oversee this process.
Some other things to try are Meditation, Yoga or some other sort of exercise. This will allow you to begin to control the Panic Attacks. It is also important for you to change the wording of your inner voice. You must eliminate all negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.
A great resource for you to eliminate Panic Attacks and Agoraphobia is the eBook and Audio “Overcoming Anxiety And Panic Attacks" A Step-By-Step Guide To Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks.
It is also has an audio-book version that will make it much easier for you to take in all the information it gives you. Delivered as a downloadable MP3 you can listen to it on your computer, mp3 player or you can make an audio CD that you can listen to in your car or anywhere you have a CD Player.
Steve Knorr is the Author of the above article, all rights reserved. You may publish this article on your website or ezine as long as you leave all links in the article and the resource box at the end. (C) 2006 Steve Knorr.
