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Agoraphobia

What is Agoraphobia?

Agoraphobia is an intense fear of being in a wide range of situations from which escape is thought to be difficult. This fear is experienced in situations, including: using modes of transportation (automobiles, buses, trains, airplanes, or ships), open spaces (parking lots, marketplaces, or bridges), closed spaces (movie theaters, stores), standing in a line or being in a crowd of people, or being outside of the home alone. The intense fear results in panic-like symptoms or feelings of incapacitation or embarrassment and is accompanied by concerns that escape or accessing help might not be possible. As a result, the individual avoids these situations or requires that someone accompany him/her in these situations and his or her life can become significantly impaired. Agoraphobia may or may not co-occur with panic disorder.

Treatment for Agoraphobia

CEH clinicians specialize in exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the gold standard psychological treatment for agoraphobia. This short-term treatment aims to increase an individual’s ability to tolerate anxiety, challenge unhelpful thought processes that contribute to distress, and improve the individual’s daily functioning by gradually assisting the individual in returning to the activities that have been previously avoided due to anxiety.