Agoraphobia. What is this disease?

What kind of fears do not exist in human nature: fear of height, water, spiders, closed or, conversely, open space. The last concept, called agoraphobia, should be considered in more detail.

Many specialists are inclined to consider these symptoms as the flip side of another, better known, fear of closed space - claustrophobia. However, such a schematic approach is not welcomed by other psychotherapists who still consider not fully understood such a complex form of psychosis as agoraphobia. What is this disease, what are its origins? Are there effective methods of treatment?

As agoraphobia is manifested - this, in principle, is clear from the name itself. "Agora" (Greek "agora") means "area", and "phobia" is a phobia-an irrational, unreasonable fear of something. A person exposed to this disease feels a panic fear of a crowd of people on the street, and not only. Panic takes possession of him in other people's premises, where he seems to be deprived of the opportunity to quickly leave there in case of danger. For example, he will never sit in the middle of a row in the cinema, he is afraid to fly by air, to be far from the door on the bus or in the subway. The fear of open space is often affected by asthmatics - they are afraid of attacks of suffocation in a crowded environment, and fear even more provokes an attack. If a person has ever experienced stress, got injured on the street, it also leaves its imprint on the psyche in the form of a persistent phobia. Another source of psychosis - psychological trauma, rooted in childhood.

That agoraphobia is terrible, that this mental state is accompanied by completely physical symptoms: a person catches his breath, blood pressure rises, tachycardia begins. From a sudden darkening in the eyes, he becomes disoriented in space and may even lose consciousness. All this only aggravates his condition, next time he will be afraid of repeating the same reaction, and thus, most likely, he himself will provoke it. Discharged, the disease can reach the most serious stages, when the patient, at best, can not leave the house unaccompanied, and at worst - completely refuses to leave his safe, as it seems to him, shelter.

Who is threatened with agoraphobia? That this is mostly a woman's disease - is claimed by unbiased statistics. It is women, with their subtle psychic and psychological organization, that are easier to give in to all sorts of phobias than men. In addition, the disease overtakes mainly young women, from twenty to forty years. In more advanced age, manifestations of the disease are less common, except when it is of a long-term nature.

One of the many misconceptions about this phobia is that it can not be healed from it. Treatment of agoraphobia is possible and necessary. Yes, this will require the help of a high-quality psychotherapist, and also - close people.

As a drug therapy can not do without the appointment of antidepressants. Along with them, the doctor-psychotherapist carries out individual work to help the patient realize his illness, look at himself from the outside, thereby, step by step, overcoming fear and returning to a full life. Treatment with hypnosis is a common and effective method that allows you to fight obsessive fears at the subconscious level. The task of the relatives is to help the patient take the first step, calm him down and convince him to seek help from a specialist. Only with such an integrated approach can agoraphobia be released.

What is this attack and how to fight it - traditional medicine, as always, does not stay away from the problem. If the patient suffers from asthma attacks, for example, with asthma, it is necessary to persuade him to go out more often, to walk with him in the green zone, best of all - in a coniferous forest or park. Calming, mood-improving teas, for example, from the leaves of nettle, mint, lemon balm, the intake of valerian root in the form of infusions have a beneficial effect on the human nervous system. If you keep the root of valerian next to the bed, on the nightstand, the inhalation of its smell can work wonders and without any broths.

And the most important and effective in the treatment of agoraphobia is the desire to get rid of it. If you take the first step, the second step will be made.