A phobia to put it in simple terms, is a fear of something. Agora comes from the Greek language, and refers to a place where people meet, or more specifically a marketplace. From this we see that agoraphobia is the fear of being in crowded or open spaces.
Agoraphobia is often thought of as the fear of being out in the open, but that isn't strictly correct. People suffering from agoraphobia are quite often more fearful of places where they feel crowded or "hemmed in", as my mother described it, where getting away would be difficult.
A person with agoraphobia is usually reluctant to leave their house, this is their safe territory. This supports the belief that it is not simply being outdoors that frightens the people affected by the condition. Situations such as being in a crowded building, a large exposed place, or any unfamiliar territory can be intensely disturbing to someone with agoraphobia. It is mostly associated with being unable to get to a safe location, or the feeling of being exposed and unprotected, being away from their comfort zone. Because of this a return to familiar territory and normality, may often relieve the symptoms of an agoraphobia related panic attack.
The effects of agoraphobia can range from mild feelings of discomfort or anxiety, to intense fear and panic attacks. Agoraphobia is actually diagnosed differently according to whether the patient experiences panic disorders or not. In fact, many different psychological disorders can share symptoms with agoraphobia, such as a social phobia, separation anxiety disorder (usually in children), and depression.
Overcoming or learning to live with Agoraphobia is a long process, but is one that can be achieved or at least made manageable.
Showing posts with label agoraphobia definition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label agoraphobia definition. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Agoraphobia Support
Agoraphobia Support - 3 Mistakes to Avoid
By Alex Taylor
Agoraphobia support groups will often tell you what you should be doing to successfully overcome your condition, but they may neglect to tell you what to avoid doing. So what follows are the 3 most common mistakes you should absolutely avoid in your effort to beat agoraphobia:
1) You Don't Keep A Journal:
Keeping a journal is important with all forms of panic disorder, but it is of vital importance when it comes to agoraphobia.
Being able to look back over weeks and months of entries will allow you to quickly see the progress you're making, which can single-handedly cause your condition to become far less severe.
Start keeping a journal today!
2) You Try To Do Too Much Too Soon:
Rome wasn't built in a day. And agoraphobia is never beaten overnight. People who overcome this condition do it slowly and steadily, in small baby step increments.
A tiny improvement that's almost too small to measure should be celebrated. Making tiny improvements even once a week will build into a wonderful story of recovery over the period of a year.
It creates exponential growth - this week, you improve half a percent, then next week you improve another half a percent. Except now you're improving on your improvements and your results are snowballing.
So celebrate those tiny baby steps you're taking. Baby steps can take you a long way.
3) You Don't Let Yourself Enjoy Things:
It's very common in agoraphobics that even when they feel safe and secure at home they are not happy, simply because they feel they're losing the battle against their condition.
But there's absolutely nothing wrong in being happy, contented, and enjoying things in the area where you feel safe.
You'll be making progress in other areas of your life, so let those take care of themselves.
But when you're at home, or wherever you feel safest, allow yourself to relax, do things that make you happy, and never feel guilty that you're not doing something about agoraphobia right at that moment.
Allowing yourself to relax and be happy will do wonders for your frame of mind, your emotions, and your life in general.
So relax at every opportunity you get, and have fun!
If you can successfully avoid these 3 common mistakes, and you can combine them with the more standard advice given by agoraphobia support groups, you'll soon discover that your problems are much easier to overcome than you ever thought before.
Since overcoming a lifelong battle with anxiety and panic disorder in 2007, Alex Taylor now devotes his time to helping others recover. He achieves this via his highly-acclaimed online course, "Beat Panic Today." You can experience the same results that many others have experienced by accessing the course right now, free of charge, by going to Alex's website: http://www.PreventYourPanic.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alex_Taylor http://EzineArticles.com/?Agoraphobia-Support---3-Mistakes-to-Avoid&id=1391300
By Alex Taylor
Agoraphobia support groups will often tell you what you should be doing to successfully overcome your condition, but they may neglect to tell you what to avoid doing. So what follows are the 3 most common mistakes you should absolutely avoid in your effort to beat agoraphobia:
1) You Don't Keep A Journal:
Keeping a journal is important with all forms of panic disorder, but it is of vital importance when it comes to agoraphobia.
Being able to look back over weeks and months of entries will allow you to quickly see the progress you're making, which can single-handedly cause your condition to become far less severe.
Start keeping a journal today!
2) You Try To Do Too Much Too Soon:
Rome wasn't built in a day. And agoraphobia is never beaten overnight. People who overcome this condition do it slowly and steadily, in small baby step increments.
A tiny improvement that's almost too small to measure should be celebrated. Making tiny improvements even once a week will build into a wonderful story of recovery over the period of a year.
It creates exponential growth - this week, you improve half a percent, then next week you improve another half a percent. Except now you're improving on your improvements and your results are snowballing.
So celebrate those tiny baby steps you're taking. Baby steps can take you a long way.
3) You Don't Let Yourself Enjoy Things:
It's very common in agoraphobics that even when they feel safe and secure at home they are not happy, simply because they feel they're losing the battle against their condition.
But there's absolutely nothing wrong in being happy, contented, and enjoying things in the area where you feel safe.
You'll be making progress in other areas of your life, so let those take care of themselves.
But when you're at home, or wherever you feel safest, allow yourself to relax, do things that make you happy, and never feel guilty that you're not doing something about agoraphobia right at that moment.
Allowing yourself to relax and be happy will do wonders for your frame of mind, your emotions, and your life in general.
So relax at every opportunity you get, and have fun!
If you can successfully avoid these 3 common mistakes, and you can combine them with the more standard advice given by agoraphobia support groups, you'll soon discover that your problems are much easier to overcome than you ever thought before.
Since overcoming a lifelong battle with anxiety and panic disorder in 2007, Alex Taylor now devotes his time to helping others recover. He achieves this via his highly-acclaimed online course, "Beat Panic Today." You can experience the same results that many others have experienced by accessing the course right now, free of charge, by going to Alex's website: http://www.PreventYourPanic.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alex_Taylor http://EzineArticles.com/?Agoraphobia-Support---3-Mistakes-to-Avoid&id=1391300
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