Agoraphobia, how to overcome the fear of crowded places?
We've all heard the word agoraphobia. Surely if we asked what is agoraphobia, many people would respond that is the fear of open spaces, to leave home, etc. But ... do we really know what it means? Do we know what it means to suffer agoraphobia?
The agoraphobia is a problem More common than we imagine, is a psychological disorder where the person is afraid of fear, is afraid of being able to suffer an anxiety attack at any time and not receive help.
What is agoraphobia?
A person suffering from agoraphobia, is a person who is afraid to be in public places full of people like shops, public transport or in situations where it is difficult to escape or ask for help. What really scares them is to lose control and suffer a panic attack or something worse, to be able to get out of that fear, as is logical, avoid going to those places, take public transport or need to be accompanied by friends or relatives that give them security.
All of us have an alarm system that warns us when we face a danger and allows us to face it either by fighting or fleeing, if we are going to cross a street while we are looking at the mobile and suddenly we hear the horn of a car, immediately my body will react and I will begin to feel that the heart beats strong, that I tremble, I begin to sweat ... this means that this alarm system is set in motion allowing me to stop and not cross the street, that is, putting myself safe.
The agoraphobia appears when our body reacts to situations that are not dangerous as if they were, we begin to feel physical sensations such as heat, heart palpitations, sweats, etc that make me worry and think that something terrible is going to happen with what appears the need to get me safe. In order not to repeat this experience, I begin to avoid situations that provoke these sensations, perpetuating the problem in this way.
In the previous situation, the fact of being almost run over can provoke a small shock and although each person reacts in a different way, the most likely thing is that everything remains in a fright, however, in people suffering from agoraphobia they develop an over-sensitization that causes you to feel those sensations although there is no real danger.
How is agoraphobia maintained?
When we are facing a dangerous situation, the mind focuses on trying to solve this situation, but when the danger is not real as in the case of agoraphobia, the mind focuses on the sensations that are perceived, strong and rapid heartbeat, dizziness , sweat * which makes these sensations stronger and perpetuates becoming a habit.
The agoraphobia is learned through conditioning, this type of learning leads us to associate the feelings of fear to situations of danger. However, the problem appears when we associate these sensations of fear to situations that are not really dangerous and as a consequence we avoid all the places or situations that cause us to feel that way.
Every time we avoid a situation the conditioning grows, that is, every time we stop facing the situation, the fear we feel becomes stronger. In addition, there will be more and more feared situations, because we tend to generalize what we have learned.
How can we overcome agoraphobia?
Since agoraphobia is a way of behaving that we have learned, we can also unlearn it and relearn a more useful way of behaving that allows us to continue with our lives.
For this, we must do just the opposite of what we are doing. We must stop avoiding and facing all those situations that we fear and verify that everything that we fear happens will probably not happen. To achieve this it takes time, you must face progressively, this way little by little the confidence in yourself will return.
However, we can begin to face agoraphobia by following these steps;
1. Make a list of all the things you would like to do if you were well, (go shopping, take the bus alone *) no matter how difficult they are, shove them all and order them from the easiest to the most difficult.
2. Practice Set a time to practice each day. Start with the easiest situation and confront it, the important thing right now is not whether you get it or not, the important thing is to create the habit of doing it every day. Record your progress.
3. Repeat each situation a few times until you get it, once you have overcome it is time to move on to the next dreaded situation.
4. If at any time you are unable to face yourself Maybe it's because you set the goal very high, stop and review the situation, divide the goal into sub-goals that allow you to reach the goal.
Rocío Navarro Psychologist Director of Psicolari, integral psychology
