Warning Signs Of Agoraphobia

Avoidance Lasts More Than Six Months

To receive an official diagnosis of agoraphobia, an individual must experience these fears and avoidance for longer than six months. This is a new diagnostic criterion included in the DSM-5. In the DSM-4, which was the previous set of diagnostic criteria, only patients under eighteen years old needed to experience the avoidance for six months. This stipulation is included so the condition isn't overdiagnosed based on fleeting, unrelated, or transient fears. With that said, patients don't have to suffer for six months before seeking treatment. Even if the underlying cause isn't diagnosed as agoraphobia, fears severe enough to cause this avoidance should be treated.

The longer the fear goes without treatment, the more ingrained the avoidant behaviors tend to become. Even if patients don't avoid every potentially triggering situation, they might still experience extreme and disproportionate stress that makes them want to avoid the situation. This can count toward a diagnosis. In the end, the exact label for the phobia doesn't matter. If individuals are experiencing fear so severe that it affects their day-to-day functioning, and they're avoiding situations for more than six months, there's some kind of anxiety disorder that needs treatment.

Leaving The House

In media, agoraphobia is most commonly depicted as an inability to leave the house. This has caused some individuals to incorrectly believe agoraphobia is a simple fear of being outside. The truth is more complicated. When a person with agoraphobia is afraid to leave home, it tends to be because of the uncontrolled elements outside the house. They are terrified they'll become trapped or isolated if they panic outside the home.

The fear of being helpless is stronger than the desire to leave the house. They may feel like they can't leave the house without a companion because of the chances of something bad happening. The root of this type of agoraphobia can sometimes be trauma. If an individual experienced a traumatic experience they couldn't control outside of the home, they may develop a fear that going outside will cause the experience to repeat itself.