Agoraphobia and its Impact on a Persons Life Essay

Agoraphobia and its Impact on a Persons Life A phobic disorder is marked by a persistent and irrational fear of an object or situation that presents no realistic danger. Agoraphobia is an intense, irrational fear or anxiety occasioned by the prospect of having to enter certain outdoor locations or open spaces. For example, busy streets, busy stores, tunnels, bridges, public transportation and cars. Traditionally agoraphobia was solely classified as a phobic disorder. However, due to recent studies it is now also viewed as a panic disorder. Panic disorders are characterised by recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that usually occur suddenly and unexpectedly (Weiten, 1998). For a person diagnosed with agoraphobia, there are a†¦show more content†¦Agoraphobia starts suddenly with an unexpected panic attack. This usually strikes while the person is outdoors. This is likely to cause the person to avoid the situation or place where the original panic attack occurred. The panic attacks then begin to occur more frequently, and once they begin to happen monthly or more often, it is likely that the full agoraphobic pattern will emerge. The reason why these initial panic attacks occur is not known, but stress is a major factor in the majority of cases. The antecedents of the panic attack response of agoraphobia are simply the four key elements in classical conditioning. One of these is the unconditioned response (UCR). The UCR is an unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning. In the case of agoraphobia, the UCR would be a panic attack. The unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is a stimulus that evokes an unconditio ned response without previous conditioning. In the case of agoraphobia, the UCS would be the situation the panic response first occurred in, for example, a busy street. The conditioned response (CR) is a learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning. In agoraphobia, this would be the panic responses of fear and anxiety. The conditioned stimulus (CS) is a previously neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response. In agoraphobia, this would be theShow MoreRelatedSymptoms And Treatment Of Depression1230 Words   |  5 Pagesdisorders are illnesses that describe a serious change in mood, it is a mental illness that occurs in the brain. A person with a mood disorder can have a hard time living normally in their everyday life; from feeling hopeless, drowsiness, lack of good energy and low self-esteem. It creates a big impact on a person’s decisions and actions and sometimes can even make them go insane and suicidal. However, some mood disorder are really common and can seek treatment but some can be really rare and hard to cureRead MoreThe History of Phobias Essay1117 Words   |  5 Pagessimilar incident. 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