Fear of open space is a fairly common problem today. It occurs for completely different reasons, but in any case brings a lot of discomfort to the patient's life. After all, a person who is afraid to leave his own house or even a room eventually loses all social skills and communication with society.
What is the fear of open spaces?
In fact, almost everyone knows what the fear of closed spaces is called - this is claustrophobia. Unfortunately, quite a large number of people have difficulty being, for example, in a large city square or in an open field. So what is the fear of open space called? Such a mental disorder in medicine is called agoraphobia. In fact, such fear has deeper roots. In most cases, people are afraid not only of open space, but they also experience almost a snake, being in a large crowd of people, public transport or in any other place besides their own apartment. Cases have been reported when patients begin a panic attack even with open room doors. Interestingly, in most cases, the fear of open space appears at the age of 20 to 25 years. Women are more prone to this disorder.
Fear of open spaces: main symptoms
In fact, it is not so difficult to notice the manifestations of agoraphobia. Anxiety covers a person already at the thought of going out. With a prolonged stay in a public place or unfamiliar open space, the first signs of a panic attack appear . First, the heartbeat becomes more frequent, a distinct sense of fear and even horror appears. In the future, some patients experience severe nausea up to vomiting. In addition, severe dizziness, weakness in the legs, trembling and tingling in the whole body are possible.
Quite often, patients have severe chest pain and shortness of breath - in some cases, people feel a lack of air and begin to suffocate. Often observed and fainting conditions.
Fear of open space and treatment methods
Such strong and uncontrollable fears worsen a person’s quality of life. After all, his whole life is limited to the walls of the house, he depends on other people, because he often can not even go to the store. That is why the fear of open space requires professional help from a specialist.
- In fact, the only effective treatment for agoraphobia today is psychotherapy. The fact is that most often a phobia is the result of some kind of emotional trauma previously suffered by a person. An experienced specialist will always help the patient discover the cause of fear and overcome it. In addition, it is regular sessions that help people gradually get out of a state of anxiety. Statistics confirm that agoraphobia is successfully treated and people with similar problems after a course of therapy can return to normal life and communication with others.
- Along with psychotherapy, medications are also used, in particular sedatives and antidepressants.