This is the continuation of the topic ́s Agoraphobia, general information on the topic is available at Agoraphobia
Introduction
People suffering from an anxiety disorder should deal with their illness, i.e. the causes, symptoms and consequences. As with all other anxiety disorders, the first step of a successful therapy is to admit the fear to oneself. As a consequence, agoraphobia leads to major disruptions in the life of the affected person.
In order to be freed from the compulsive thoughts and fears, it is necessary to start therapy early. A psychotherapeutic treatment (behavioral therapy) should be accepted regularly and on a long-term basis as a supporting measure by the persons and thus good treatment successes can be achieved. If panic-like conditions are also present, it can be very useful to give additional medication (psychotropic drugs).
The treatment can include several measures. Since the person suffers from considerable anxiety, it is advisable to first give him general information about the anxiety. It is useful to explain to the patient that fears can be not only negative but also positive.
This would explain to the patient that fears of certain situations or objects are natural and can save our lives. Through fear, we humans protect ourselves from danger because we avoid it. When people still went hunting, they survived only because of their fear reaction.
They reacted quickly when attacked and moved to safety. Even today the fear reaction still saves our lives, for example in traffic. On a busy road, the fear of approaching cars keeps us from crossing the carriageway.
If a pedestrian has overlooked a car and can jump back at the last second, physical fear reactions suddenly appear (racing heart, sweating, trembling, etc.). In the future, this experience will encourage pedestrians to be more careful in road traffic. Such an example should be brought closer to the patient, as it also illustrates the positive aspects of fear.
However, the anxiety is much more pronounced in the affected persons than in healthy persons. Due to the exaggerated fears, the person isolates himself from the outside world and feels at the mercy of his fears. The actual goal of the therapy is to reduce the panic attacks and thus help the person to return to a normal way of dealing with the anxiety-ridden situations.
People who suffer from agoraphobia lose confidence in themselves. They have lost faith that a certain situation can be managed by them alone. Building trust in oneself is therefore another important goal of the therapy.
