The thought of being stuck within a crowd while you are experiencing a call of nature can be anxious for most of us. Despite that idea, the possible embarrassment does not stop most of us from frequenting concerts, the theater or other public and crowded places. However, this is not true for some people. The situation that I have mentioned is one of the symptoms of agoraphobia.

Fear, panic, anxiety and embarrassment, these are the 4 major feelings or symptoms that a person with Agoraphobia mostly experiences. Basically, they have a fear of experiencing an anxiety or panic on a situation that is embarrassing or difficult to escape from. Another concrete example would be the idea of choking in front of a crowd or in the presence of strangers. We know that choking is not exactly the best reason for you to be known for. Moreover, the aid for choking demands another person, which can be a scene stealer.

The symptoms of agoraphobia can extend to fear of being in an elevator, being left home alone or leaving home. In these circumstances, the panic may surface in the idea of no escape in an elevator. While being left alone, is difficult for the sufferer because nobody might lend a help in time of a panic or anxiety attack.

Agoraphobia’s intensity varies from one person to another. There are some sufferers who live a normal life as they simply avoid the potential situations that may provoke their panic attack. On the other hand, people with severe form of Agoraphobia are home bound. These are the sufferers who completely avoid any kind of triggers or events that pushes their panic button.

These are the two major characteristics connected to Agoraphobia:

1. People experience panic while thinking of being in a place, event or situation that is out of their comfort zone. Also, there is a fear of being trapped, where they perceive it would be embarrassing or difficult for them to escape from the situation.

2. People steer clear of situations that might bring them panic or anxiety. It is their intense fear of anxiety that leads to Agoraphobia.

According to studies, there are about twice as many women than men who sufferers from agoraphobia. Most of the people with this disorder have undergone a stressful or traumatic event before they had their first experience of their panic or anxiety episode. In terms of age, the most common sufferers had their first experience of agoraphobia during their mid or late 20’s.

Often times, people with agoraphobia go through a phase where they feel that they are losing their mind or they are in the verge of being crazy. They have such feeling due to the overwhelming physical, emotional, mental and psychological effect of fears and anxiety. Accordingly, they seek for the help and advice of a mental health professional.

Another common incident that leads to diagnosis of Agoraphobia, is through the testimonials of a family member or a friend. Sometimes, the people around the sufferer notice a great reluctance to leaving home without a companion. For example, a wife might notice her husband usually seeks reason for not leaving home. Hence, the family member is urged to advice the sufferer to consult for professional help.

On the actual diagnosis, the mental health professional carefully takes note of the personal history of the client or patient. In diagnosing agoraphobia, laboratory test is no longer required to confirm a case nor physical conditions that must be met. However, the therapist must be careful not to overlook illnesses that might be similar, to a point that it mimics the psychological disorder. When the psychologist encounter doubt during the diagnosis, he / she can ask for the help of a physician, who has the authority and knowledge to execute a complete physical examination and laboratory tests.

Agoraphobia is serious but it can be treated. These are the following treatments that are commonly used to help the sufferers of this disorder:

Behavior Therapy, this is the kind of treatment that aims to modify and control the unwanted behavior. The sufferers are taught to cope with difficult scenarios, by exposing them to the actual situation but with control. This therapy is somewhat effective because the patient develops a feeling of being control in his / her life.

Cognitive Therapy, this intervention appeals on the cognitive aspect of the patient. The objective is to alter the sufferer’s harmful and unproductive thinking patterns. The sessions enable the person to reflect and examine his / her feelings, and be able to fish out realistic from unrealistic perceptions.

Cognitive-Behavior therapy or CBT is a combination of cognitive and behavior techniques. One of the perks of this intervention is its capacity to allow the patient to acquire recovery skills that he / she can utilize for a lifetime.

Relaxation Technique is effective in helping patients to empower them with ability to cope with the stress that may contribute to their fears. Also, it relieves the physical effects of phobia. Most of the techniques taught in this treatment are breathing exercise and other physical work-outs.

Other forms of therapy include Hypnotherapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP and Energy Psychology. These are the new installments in the treatment arena of Agoraphobia. Bear in mind that this disorder is just an obstacle. You have the power to bring an end to it. There will come a time that you’d be able to enjoy life again and be freed from the symptoms of agoraphobia.

Anxiety panic attacks is a dreadful illness and one that can ruin your life and self-esteem. People are looking desperately to cure anxiety and eliminate panic attacks, buying every book they find about it and spend thousands of money on expensive therapy and medications.

Yet, many of these just treat the symptoms of anxiety and panic and not the real root of the cause. You actually can stop the vicious cycle of panic disorder by a simple technique which is called One Move Technique and was discovered by the author of Panic Away, Joe Barry. He was a long time panic disorder sufferer until he discovered this particular technique.

Anxiety attacks can have terrible symptoms like shortness of breathe, heart palpitations or short flashes. Sometimes the symptoms can get worse and feel as if you have a heart attack. This symptoms can make you feel low and fear for your sanity. The truth is that you are not going crazy, you just suffer from panic anxiety disorder and by eliminating it you make sure you don’t get all kinds of phobias.

There are all kind of phobias, like fearing going of open spaces, fearing of driving, fearing of public speaking, just to name a few. These can make your life pretty miserable and can affect your work life.

You can break the dreadful cycle of panic thoughts. You just need to re-work your mind of not thinking of negative thoughts. This you have to do it yourself and not pill will solve that. This is a critical step in your battle with panic attacks and is crucial in your success of eliminating anxiety and panic.

There are other theories such as the cause of depression arises from genetics. It is considered that it is the family and their behavior that has a predisposition towards depression. There are numerous studies and research that has shown family members who are affected by depression have a genetic makeup that is very different from family members who are unaffected by depression. A depressive disorder is a mental disparity exemplified by a pessimistic sense of insufficiency. A person commonly suffers from feelings of gloom and sadness, downturns in mood, despair, feelings of low self-esteem, guilt, self-pity, and loneliness.

Depression is not just a temporary or situational sadness, but a persistent and pervasive feeling of melancholy or hopelessness that is often associated with weight loss or gain, sleep disturbances, constipation, disturbances of sexual function, and feelings of remorse or self-blame. It also results into withdrawal from interpersonal contact, psychomotor retardation and continuous agitation.
Different types of depression include:
Major Depression
Postpartum or Postnatal Depression
Bipolar Disorder or Manic Depression
Cyclothymic Disorder
Dysthymic Disorder
Seasonal Affective Disorder

One out of 10 people suffer from this disorder. There are many causes of depression. Some types of depression do seem to run in families for generations, suggesting a biological susceptibility. This seems to be the case with bipolar depression and severe major depression.

Causes Depression
Even though depression is now known to have serious effects if it persists for a long length of time, the actual causes of depression are not well defined. It is possible that depression occurs due to a number of reasons which combine to give that feeling of helplessness and inability to cope. These reasons, can involve both internal and external factors.
It has also been noted that changes in the brain structure or even brain functions may be one of the causes of depression. So, while there is no clear evidence that brain functionality or genetics cause people to be predisposed towards depression, there is ample research data to suggest that this could be the case.

Mood and Stress Disorders
Depression is a severe illness affecting the lives of not only the sufferers but also their families. Anyone can suffer from depression, young or old, male or female. Most causes of mood and anxiety disorders remain unknown and neuropsychiatric disorders are complex.
But it’s known that stress is a risk factor for the onset of many psychiatric disorders. A strong genetic predisposition is often blamed for mental illnesses as it is seen that depression run in families. But there is evidence to show that environmental influences can cause increased susceptibility. For example, stressful situations in early life contribute to major risk factors for the subsequent development of depression. Stressful events later in life such as family loss, divorce or financial problems can also cause considerable increase in depression.