Number one is panic attacks. A panic attack being experienced as a period of irrational fear usually lasting for ten minutes or more. Most people with agoraphobia will have frequent panic attacks.
The second symptom that will associate the panic attack with Agoraphobia is "Avoidance Behavior."
A panic attack is a torturous emotional and physical experience and many people who have just one panic attack will do almost anything to avoid having another one. Agoraphobia is when when this avoidance behavior gets severe enough to disrupt the persons ability to go about their normal daily activities.
People with agoraphobia will avoid places or situations in which having to make a quick exit due to a panic attack is likely to cause embarrassment. In contrast it could also be a situation in which no one is around to help if a panic attack or other emergency may occur.
Many people with agoraphobia confine themselves to going only a certain distance from their home, or to what they would consider to be a "safe" place or they are with a "safe" person. The most common safe place for someone with agoraphobia is his or her own home.
At first people close to the person with agoraphobia may be unaware that there is a problem because they will make excuses to explain their avoidance behavior. To cope with the fear however, people with agoraphobia commonly establish "safe" people and places. In time they are likely to make it known to those close to them that they do indeed have a problem. Safe people are people with whom the person is highly familiar and feels emotionally close such as parents, spouses, children, relatives, or close friends.
It is important that the person who has agoraphobia along with those around them understand what it means. Recognising that they have the condition is the first step in coming to terms with what it means, and what can be done to help..
