Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Agoraphobia
After the discussion in class about panic disorders and Agoraphobia, I made a connection that my Aunt might suffer from this disorder. She was never really the type to leave the house much and we always just assumed she was more of a homebody, but over the years it's continued to get worse. She doesn't drive so we also assumed that may be why she never goes out, but even if other's offer to take her places she will not go. There are few places she will travel to, but they are places that she is farmiliar with and feels safe in like her parent's or sister's houses. She does have some anxiety but also has had a major history of depression, which makes me wonder if agoraphobia can be linked to depression. If someone is depressed enough to not leave the house, can they develop severe anxiety when they do eventually try to leave, causing someone to develop agoraphobia?
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i too have a connection to agoraphobia. my little sister for a long time was unable to go to many places. her phobia could mostly be blame on an instant when she had a panic attack at the local mall. for her she felt as though the world was too big and that any given moment should could suddenly lose herself. it wasn't until many months of therapy, that my sister was able to go back to the mal and other major public places.
ReplyDeleteLike Isiah and Chelsea, I also have a connection to agoraphobia. In high school a friend of mine was unable to talk to people while in the hallway. She would begin to hyperventilate when there were large groups of people walking, and talking in the hallway. It took her a long time to adapt to the mass number of students in the hallway. She still had trouble with walking through but she did not panic as much.
ReplyDeleteDoes something cause agoraphobia? Usually when someone is afraid of something or displays anxiety when a situation is presented to them, it's due to a prior bad experience they had. There must be something within individuals' pasts that triggers their abnormal fear of public areas, especially since their avoidance of such areas does not ultimately cure their anxiety/fear. The whole concept of having to face this fear head-on in order to cure it demonstrates how one's fears of irrational things is triggered by their mind's preconceptions of the danger that has the potential to happen, or may have in the past under similar conditions.
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