Agoraphobia:The Fear of Fear
Agoraphobia is a condition in which a person avoids a number of otherwise ordinary activities and places, including some that the person used to enjoy before the trouble started. This avoidance usually develops in response to panic attacks. Because a panic attack can be such an upsetting and scary experience, people are naturally motivated to do whatever they can to avoid additional attacks. Unfortunately, it's precisely a person's efforts to protect himself from panic which create the greater problem of Agoraphobia.
A typical example would be a person who avoids several ordinary activities and situations, such as highway driving, large supermarkets, and crowded theaters and churches. Even a mild case can be a big burden, because people with Agoraphobia experience lots of shame, frustration, and anticipatory worry, in addition to the loss of the ability to participate in activities you used to enjoy.
The original meaning of the word comes to us from the Greeks, and it meant "fear of the marketplace". Today we understand the problem to be much broader than fear of one location or another - it's fear of anything or any place that you think might lead to a panic attack. But the fact that the ancient Greeks had a word for it tells us that this problem has been around for a while.
Safe Zones
Agoraphobia comes about when a person with Panic Disorder gets tricked into believing that he (or she) has a "safe zone" within which he is "protected" from the ravages of a panic attack, and beyond which he is subject to great danger. It leads him to believe that he if he limits his activities, and engages in other protective behaviors, he might be able to prevent any more attacks.
Sometimes the "safe zone" is purely geographic, and involves only distance from home, and if that's the case, the person gets worried when it seems as if he is "too far from home". But there are usually other factors. One major factor is that people with Agoraphobia will avoid any situation that seems to them to be a "trap", by which they mean a place from which they can't leave, as quickly, quietly, and invisibly as they may wish, in the event they have a panic attack. From this perspective, lots of otherwise harmless situations can resemble a trap: long grocery lines, traffic jams, crowded churches, divided highways, express trains, office meetings, haircuts, job interviews, parent teacher conferences, and so on.
People often think Agoraphobia means "housebound", but that's just a really severe case of it. It's more common to have a variety of avoidances, and also maintain one's work, school, or other responsibilities, although with lots of difficulty. However, agoraphobic people can become housebound if they continue to shrink their "safe zone" until it doesn't extend beyond their front porch or living room.((This except was taken from a webpage )
There are many ways I and many other people deal or suffer with the symptoms of having panic attacks and agoraphobia I have tried numerous methodologies over the years and medications. It is part of my being and I am learning to cope with it on a healthy level and strive to overcome my daily obstacles.
