Agoraphobia: Agoraphobia is triggered by certain places and situations such as wide open spaces and crowds. In severe manifestations of the disorder, affected patients can no longer leave their homes. Sufferers fear a loss of control and the anxiety can escalate to panic. This is why agoraphobia often occurs together with panic disorder. Women are affected much more frequently than men (ratio 8 to 1).
Basically, agoraphobia can be simplified to avoidance of three situations:
Fear of
– crowds
– public places
– travel
Agoraphobia responds well to treatment with psychotherapy.* Medications have an anxiety-relieving effect but are not curative because, as with panic attacks, they lead to avoidance behavior.
Conclusion: Agoraphobia responds well to psychotherapy. Medication should only be used to a limited extent and helps with acute problems, for example when a trip cannot be avoided. Of course, as always, good patient education is important here: What happens to me in psychotherapy? Why hypnosis? Why body therapy? What are the side effects of medication, etc.? In my practice I face the challenge of treating agoraphobia individually with you! This means that we decide together on eye level what makes sense. You are still the boss of your psyche and your body!