In their severe form, agoraphobia and panic attacks can cause a predicament in which people become housebound for quite a few years. Please be aware, this really is by no means a hopeless situation, and actually, nothing is hopeless until the person facing the difficult situation believes it is.
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To put it another way, those who experience fear frequently and may also be afflicted by panic and anxiety attacks might be in a tough situation but they are not at all in a hopeless one. One of the things that makes a panic sufferer feel hopeless is when the panic attacks lead them to the point they develop agoraphobia.
The thinking powering agoraphobia usually uses the line of thought that an anxiety attack will happen to you if you go to a certain place or attend a particular type of event. So, it stands to reason this same type of thinking leads one to believe staying away from certain places and events will prevent panic from occurring. Eventually, this train of thought will lead a person to being confined to his or her home. This is what agoraphobia is all about; namely, it is fear of leaving home.
The actual safe zone of anxiety is really a myth sustained by this thought process. The mind has evolved a habit of thinking that determines that getting inside the safe zone, his or her home will be the only spot their security is possible. By security we mean agoraphobia sufferers feel they have the best chance of not having a panic attack when they are home.
The reality of anxiety is always that there isn’t any such thing as a place where panic cannot strike. Also, there is nothing deadly about a panic attack, and so sitting at home really is not a solution to panic. On the other hand, overcoming panic will obliviate agoraphobia.
Think of agoraphobia as the final stop on panic’s itinerary. The first step is general anxiety, the second step is panic attack disorder and again, the last stop is agoraphobia. In truth, not everyone’s case of anxiety reaches the last stage. Even so, panic attacks are enough of a disruption to one’s life without it actually developing further.
However, understanding agoraphobia is a side effect of panic and not the cause of it will draw an agoraphobia sufferer’s attention to where it belongs. Namely, to realize overcoming panic attacks will be the end of agoraphobia without actually adding the unneeded pressure of trying to attack two afflictions.
