Essay On Agoraphobia

This specific phobia can lead to the person experience of an intense fear when not being able to break out of a populated area (Barlow & Mavissakalian, pp 4). This causes people having to evade open and heavily crowed environments with little possibilities to exit over their massive fear of going through a panic attack. Therefore, today there are signs in many rides at themed parks that warn people of the closed areas. This specific category of phobias causes the person to fear traveling on bus or even waiting in a line. This phobia can also lead to being dependent of someone because they are too afraid to go outside of their homes. Barlow & Mavissakalian (1981 pp 4-5), implicated that the clinical picture painted is consistent and consists or fears of going out to public places and open and crowded places, fears of walking alone or using any means or public transportation, and fears of being alone at home. Agoraphobia is the most disabling of all phobias and usually begins in early adolescence.

The panic disorder results from an anxiety disorder that causes panic attacks to happen. An example would be when the phone suddenly rings and it makes your heart start to race, or all of a sudden you feel this overwhelming sense of terror even though there is no reason for it. Panic attacks can cause severe physical reactions and sometimes they can feel frightening to the individual that is having the panic attack. The attack can last 10-20 minutes and sometimes it can continue for an hour if it is not controlled. Panic attacks have rushed people to the emergency rooms (ER) because it is frequently mistaken more than often of having all the symptoms of a heart attack, stroke or even a seizure. The symptoms that are characterized by this attack are: feeling weak all of a sudden, tingling or numbness in the hands and fingers, sense of terror of impending death or doom, feeling faint or lightheaded, sweaty hands, having body chills, chest pain, racing heart, breathing difficulties and feeling like your whole body is losing sense of

Discuss issues of reliability and validity associated with the classification and diagnosis of phobic disorders (24 marks)

A phobic disorder is marked by a persistent and irrational fear of an object or situation that presents no realistic danger. Agoraphobia is an intense, irrational fear or anxiety occasioned by the prospect of having to enter certain outdoor locations or open spaces. For example, busy streets, busy stores, tunnels, bridges, public transportation and cars. Traditionally agoraphobia was solely classified as a phobic disorder. However, due to recent studies it is now also viewed as a panic disorder. Panic disorders are characterised by recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that usually occur suddenly and unexpectedly (Weiten, 1998).

Panic disorder and agoraphobia are two separate disorders that often go hand in hand with each other. An individual can be diagnosed with panic disorder, but a diagnosis without agoraphobia can often take place as well. Some individuals develop symptoms of agoraphobia, but do not have the classic panic disorder symptoms, hence the reason they are both listed as separate disorders in the DSM-5. Panic disorder can be identified as “recurrent unexpected panic attacks. A panic attack is an abrupt surge of intense fear or intense discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes, and during which time four or more physical and cognitive characteristics take place (Hooley, J. 2017, pg.188).” When dealing with panic disorder it can often become debilitating, due to the fact that the individual does not know when the onset of an attack will occur. Individuals with panic disorder more commonly develop agoraphobia as a comorbid disorder, and if left untreated, can have a difficult time even leaving their home. Agoraphobia can be defined as “the individual fears or avoids

Panic disorder is when people with this condition have feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. Other symptoms of a panic attack include sweating, chest pain, palpitations, unusually strong or irregular heartbeats, and a feeling of choking, which may make the person feel like he or she is having a heart

Panic disorder is something that develops for no apparent reason. It causes repeated and unexpected attacks of intense fear. It can last for a few minutes or even hours. The people that have this disorder usually live in fear of having another attack. They are afraid to be alone, or to be far from medical help. The feelings of intense fear can trigger severe physical reactions. This disorder is very real and treatable.

This paper is going to be about anxiety disorders. I am going to explain what anxiety is and the different types of anxiety disorders. The types of anxiety I am going to talk about are Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post-Traumatic Stress, Panic Disorder and Social Phobia.

What is Anxiety? As defined by Understanding Psychology by Glencoe, Anxiety is a general state of dread or uneasiness that a person feels in response to a real or imagined danger. Anxiety affects 19 million Americans annually and anxiety disorder happens to be the most common mental illness in America. There are many different types of anxiety disorder such as: Panic Disorder, Obsessive – Compulsion Disorder, Phobias, and a few more. Although there is no cure for anxiety disorders, there are treatments to reduce symptoms.

According to the DSM, the major symptoms of Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia are, recurrent panic attacks and enduring anxiety about experiencing another panic attack. The individual is also anxious about going places where escape might be difficult or embarrassing, or where they will be unable to receive assistance in case of emergency.

Social Phobia, also called social anxiety disorder (SAD), is one of the most common, but misconstrued mental health problems in society. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), over 15 million adults suffer from the disorder. First appearing in the DSM-III as Social Phobia, and later in the DSM-IV as Social Anxiety Disorder, this newly established disorder denotes afflicting stress and anxiety associated with social situations (Zakri 677). According to James W. Jefferson, two forms of Social phobia exist: specific and generalized. Specific social phobia indicates anxiety limited to few performance situations, while generalized indicates anxiety in all social situations (Jefferson). Many people often interchangeably link this disorder to shyness––a personality trait. However, although they have striking similarities, the two are divergent. To begin with, SAD has an extensive etiology ranging from multiple factors. Furthermore, symptoms of various aspects accompany SAD. Moreover, SAD has detrimental impacts affecting quality of life. Lastly, SAD has numerous methods of treatment. Social Phobia is prevalent in both women and men beginning at the onset of puberty (ADAA).

     Social anxiety is the fear of social situations and the interaction with other people that can automatically bring on feelings of self-consciousness, judgement, evaluation, and inferiority. Put differently social anxiety is the fear and anxiety of being judged and evaluated negatively by other people, leading to feelings of inadequacy, embarrassment, humiliation, and depression. If a person usually becomes anxious in social situations, but seems fine when they are by them selves, then social anxiety may be the problem.

Many people feel apprehensive and miserable every now and then, but when does it take over their whole lives? Losing a loved one, doing poorly in school or work, being bullied and other hardships might lead a person to feel sad, lonely, scared, nervous and/or anxious. Some people experience this on an everyday basis, sometimes even or no reason at all. Those people might have an anxiety disorder, depression, or both. It is highly likely for someone with an anxiety disorder to also be suffering from depression, or the other way around. 50% of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

The Social anxiety Association classifies social anxiety as the fear of interacting with other and social situations. Social anxiety causes fear and anxiety in most if not all aspects of ones lives. Social anxiety is the fear of being negatively judge or evaluated by others. It is a chronic disease that it does not go away on its own, only direct cognitive-behavioral therapy can help people overcome their social anxiety. There are a few situations that can trigger social anxiety such as being introduced to

Everyone in life has fears, it’s a natural way our brains process certain objects or situations that may be dangerous. Common fears may be heights or spiders; some would rationally go out of their way to avoid these, but this is quite different from having a phobia. A phobia is an irrational distress with a particular object or concept/idea. Although fears are well known now, they do not have to disrupt the lives of those who are living them. Throughout the essay there will be three different treatments with three different phobias in ways to cure a phobia; the first is a trauma-focused treatment approach for travel phobia, assessment and treatment for childhood phobias, and hypnosis in facilitating clinical treatment of injections.