It is a type of anxiety disorder in which the person fears any place or situation in which he/she feels unprotected in a crowd, or from which it is impossible for him/her to flee immediately to a place considered by him/herself as “safe”, and/or to receive help.
A person with agoraphobia avoids those situations that are related to his/her anxiety such as: leaving home, using public transportation, shopping, standing in line, eating in restaurants, going to the movies, playing sports, traveling, being in public places, large areas such as a shopping mall, a stadium, or enclosed places, being alone at home, etc. The avoidance can become so severe that the person may become completely housebound.
These physical spaces become a serious threat and the fact of entering them generates the possibility of suffering a crisis of anguish, that is, an uncontrolled reaction of anguish, caused by the thoughts that accompany the person in such a situation, and the development of physiological symptoms and other disabling or humiliating symptoms, in circumstances where escape would be difficult or where help from another person would not be available.
What causes it?
There is no definite cause, however, there are a number of influencing factors:
- Environmental: when it is associated with a past traumatic experience and other stressful events.
- Genetic and physiological: It has been found that there is a certain genetic predisposition in about 61% of cases. Associated with certain hormonal changes and endocrine problems of the person.
- Temperamental: people with nervous personalities or with greater sensitivity to anxiety are more likely to develop agoraphobia.
What symptoms of agoraphobia can occur due to the COVID-19 situation?
If the person, in this state of alarm by COVID-19, has to take a public transport, must go to a medical center, supermarket or closed space, among others, will perceive a feeling of imminent danger, accompanied by different symptoms such as: palpitations, blurred vision, sweating, trembling, difficulty breathing or a feeling of suffocation, choking and shortness of breath.
They may also present tremor, tightness, chest pain or discomfort, nausea or abdominal discomfort, dizziness or lightheadedness, fear of losing control or going crazy, fear of dying, etc., and all these symptoms are complicated by the use of the mask.
In addition, when confronted with confinement, being the home where the person feels most protected, the symptoms worsen, since he/she is obliged to avoid situations in which it is more difficult for him/her to expose him/herself.
Psychologists have found that cases of agoraphobia have multiplied since the beginning of the COVD-19 crisis and people, who already suffered from it before, have seen their symptoms worsen.
What is the best treatment for this pathology?
The most effective therapy for the treatment of agoraphobia disorders is cognitive-behavioral therapy, whose main objective is to get the person to face his or her fears. Within this therapy, exposure techniques and systematic desensitization techniques combined with relaxation and/or mindfulness techniques are giving very good results.
One way of working with exposure techniques is by means of Virtual Reality devices, with which we can expose ourselves in different environments that produce anxiety, being controlled at all times by the therapist in the consultation room, before exposing ourselves to real situations.
If the situation does not improve soon, can it increase and entail any risk for the patient?
In the short term, the person will perform daily tasks with a high degree of anxiety, feeling depressed and with great anguish.
He may begin to avoid certain places and miss work on occasion. The relief he/she feels at home will lead the person to ask for help from the people around him/her to carry out the tasks that require going out, either to accompany him/her or to do it for him/her.
In the long term, the consequences will worsen: inability to work and loss of employment, loss of social contacts, abandonment of friendships, relationship problems, travel limitations, strong feelings of guilt towards loved ones, dependence on others, low self-esteem, addictions such as alcoholism or dependence on anxiolytics, hypochondriacal fears, i.e. fear of suffering from all kinds of diseases and depression.