Agoraphobia Treatment
You can improve the symptoms of agoraphobia with specific self-care strategies, though certain medications and talk therapy are considered the first line of treatment for the disorder. Agoraphobia causes fear of not escaping certain situations or places like the movie theater, large crowds, long lines at the grocery store, or the subway. People with agoraphobia may also fear not having assistance when experiencing complex physical sensations like physical health problems or panic attacks.
The fear caused by this disorder may cause a person to avoid specific situations or engage in certain safety behaviors like asking someone to come with them to the grocery store or having a friend ride the subway with them. Agoraphobia can also lead to people fearing leaving their homes in severe cases. Effective treatment is available, even though living with agoraphobia can be difficult. You can find long-term benefits in psychotherapy, which is the treatment of choice for the disorder. Talking to a counselor in Orlando is an excellent step toward improved mental health.
For people who experience severe panic symptoms, medication can also be helpful. In addition, there are specific lifestyle changes and self-care strategies you can engage in to help manage and reduce symptoms. Agoraphobia used to be considered simply a part of panic disorder until 2013. This made it challenging to have exclusive research on the illness because most studies for treatment recommendations focused on panic disorder with agoraphobia. Today agoraphobia is considered a separate condition and often occurs with panic disorders and other conditions like major depressive disorder or anxiety disorders.
Talk therapy.
Talk therapy or psychotherapy is considered the highest standard for treating agoraphobia. It can often offer long-term benefits and be particularly useful.
Exposure-based therapy and CBT, cognitive behavioral therapy.
Exposure-based therapy is a particular type of cognitive behavioral therapy that is highly effective in treating people who have agoraphobia with panic disorder. This therapy involves being systematically and gradually exposed to different situations that trigger agoraphobia. This treatment generally starts with the most minor anxiety-provoking situations and moves forward to more complicated situations as it progresses. During the treatment, you can move through these exposure activities at a comfortable pace for you. After completing one level successfully, you continue to move forward to the next and so forth.
The therapy also focuses on reducing a person's use of safety behaviors, like bringing others with you, checking for exits, or carrying an empty or full medicine bottle with you. Interoceptive exposure is also used with this therapy to bring about the physical symptoms you fear. This helps to retrain your brain to recognize that such signs are not as threatening as you believe. For example, you may be required to spin around in a chair until dizziness comes about or breathe quickly and induce hyperventilation. The idea behind this is that a person is less likely to experience panic or anxiety when they understand precisely why they have these physical symptoms in the moment. Feared situations are paired with feared sensations eventually when you are ready.
This means that you will be required to induce physical sensations when you are in line at a grocery store, at the movie theater, taking the subway, or anywhere else that typically sparks your anxiety. In addition, CBT will help you practice techniques for relaxation, learn to restructure catastrophic beliefs and unhelpful thoughts, and better understand the nature of your fear and anxiety.
PFPP-XR, panic-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy extended range.
Panic-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy extended range is another option when exposure-based therapy does not improve or eliminate your agoraphobia. This treatment is effective for many anxiety disorders, including agoraphobia with panic disorder. This therapy involves 24 sessions that happen bi-weekly to help a patient better understand their anxiety. People living with agoraphobia explore the disorder's origins and any conflicts and underlying feelings of their symptoms in a therapeutic and supportive environment.
