Agoraphobia LaTrice Hughes 4/18/20 Abnormal Psychology LaTrice Hughes Unit 2 Individual Project Anxiety Disorders and Obsessive-Compulsive & Related Disorders Professor Nicole Darling Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder. Individuals with agoraphobia display extreme fear outside the home. Treatment for agoraphobia is combined with medication and a treatment called Cognitive Behavior Therapy or Cognitive Restructuring. According to the DSM-5, Some of the symptoms of Agoraphobia are: ❖ “Fear ❖ Rapid heart rate ❖ Excessive sweating ❖ Trouble breathing ❖ Feeling shaky, numb, or tingling ❖ Chest pain or pressure ❖ Lightheadedness or dizziness ❖ Sudden flushing or chills” In a person with Agoraphobia, this would appear to be a person, that was out of control of motor functioning and extremely afraid. They would display signs of a panic attack and have extreme anxiety. They would appear to be shaking and in a state of panic. In social situations, they would appear to be afraid and unable to cognitively adapt to their environment, when in certain public places or around certain people. Its prevalence in the U.S. population, is in the general US population is about 2%, 10% in adults older than 65 years. The average age of onset is between 25 and 30 years of age. According to NIMH, 2020, “Based on diagnostic interview data from National Comorbidity Survey Replication past year prevalence of agoraphobia among U.S. adults aged 18 or older.1 An estimated 0.9% of U.S. adults had agoraphobia in the past year. Past year prevalence of agoraphobia among adults was similar for females (0.9%) and males (0.8%). An estimated 1.3% of U.S. adults experience agoraphobia at some time in their lives”. Agoraphobia frequency varies, but the overall rates are low. Individuals that have anxiety, related to someone with agoraphobia, had traumatic experiences or lost someone they love are a higher risk of agoraphobia. Women are higher risk than men, and probability of agoraphobia are highest in young adults and the elderly. Below Image borrowed from NIH Website My perception of the potential impact on workplace performance would be, they could potentially experience an episode or have a stimulus response from the environment. If they had a good working relationship with their coworkers and shared their condition with members of management, they could gain support on the job. They would be stimulated by certain triggers, social situations and even leaving the home. Therefore, there is the potential that a safe or stable or more controlled positive environment could be good for this type of individual. When a person with this diagnosis applies the strategies and techniques learned in therapy, in their life, their ability to function at higher levels increases, with the applicability of the strategies learned. One type of treatment approach that has shown to be successful in treating Agoraphobia is, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Cognitive Restructuring. Supporting a person with agoraphobia requires a trained professional aiding this individual in changing their perspective on the way they perceive a threat in their environment. Additionally, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on addressing how the manner a person thinks and what they believe, affect their behavior and mood. It attempts to change thinking patterns associated with anxiety-provoked situations. The long-term prognosis is, in conjunction with CBT, and medication agoraphobia is proven to improve over time. According to the AJP, 2020, “A lifetime burden of panic-agoraphobic spectrum symptoms predicted a poorer response to interpersonal psychotherapy and an 8week delay in sequential treatment response among women with recurrent depression. These results lend clinical validity to the spectrum construct and highlight the need for alternate psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic strategies to treat depressed patients with panic spectrum features”. The treatment and improvement vary for everyone, depending upon their ability to receive CBT and medication treatment. The duration can last for as little as 6 months or a lifetime duration, depending on response to both therapies. Anyone can improve with the will and desire to do so. Some improve with psychotherapy and medication. While others gradually show an increase over a longer period. References CTU Library. (2020). Psychiatry Online. DSM-5. Retrieved from:https://dsm-psychiatryonlineorg.proxy.cecybrary.com/doi/book/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 APA. (2013). Highlights of Changes from DSM-IV-TR to DSM-5. APA_DSM_Changes_from_DSM-IV-TR_-to_DSM-5. Retrieved from: https://www.psychiatry.msu.edu/_files/docs/Changes-From-DSM-IV-TR-to-DSM-5.pdf Kelly, T.M. (2015). 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