Overcoming Agoraphobia Self Help

Agoraphobia is a serious mental health disorder that can impact on various aspects of a person’s life. Agoraphobia refers to the avoidance of certain situations due to a fear of having panic attacks. There is no one cause for Agoraphobia but there are a number of factors that may contribute to the risk of developing this condition.

Causes for Agoraphobia can be partially explained by the biopsychosocial model, which is basically the biological, psychological and social factors that may place you at risk of developing Agoraphobia.

Biological factors

These factors refer to your biology and how it may play a role in the development of Agoraphobia. Some research shows that females are more likely to experience panic attacks than males.

If you have a family history of anxiety, depression and/ or Agoraphobia then you may have inherited some vulnerability to overreact to stress. This means that there is some genetic basis for Agoraphobia. This means that a situation where a person has a panic attack has cues that quickly become connected and produces fear for future exposure to that certain situation. For example, if you have a panic attack whilst driving your car, the car and driving may become connected to the physical sensation of the panic attack. Agoraphobia emerges when the car and driving are avoided for fear of having another panic attack.

Some medical and health conditions are also associated with panic disorder and Agoraphobia. Particularly conditions related to the heart, breathing and digestive system. For example asthma can produce similar physiological changes in the body such as shortness of breath and chest pain. This can be very scary if you experience both asthma and panic attacks as it may be difficult for you to determine what kind of attack you may be having. So you may avoid situations that also produce asthma attacks such as exercise.

Psychological factors

Sometimes the way you think and your personality may contribute to the cause of Agoraphobia. Anxious people tend to think about the worst case scenarios about different situations. If you have a tendency to worry about things and have negative thoughts then you are more likely to feel anxious a lot and perhaps have panic attacks. These thoughts also contribute to the development of Agoraphobia. Even if you have only had one panic attack in a car, compared to the hundred other times you haven’t, if you anxious tendencies then you are likely to fear that you may have another panic attack in the car and so avoid being in cars.

Social factors

If you have a biological and psychological factors present, then a stressful life event can trigger the pre-existing vulnerability to anxiety and panic attacks. Some life experiences that are stressful are childhood abuse, bereavement, redundancy and divorce and these can be the situations that create panic symptoms and ultimately Agoraphobia.

As you can see there is no one cause of Agoraphobia. These factors will help you gain a better understanding about Agoraphobia but without knowing what it is and how to treat it then you are likely to continue experiencing this serious mental health disorder.