Have Agoraphobia - Will not Travel, Will not Relocate, Will not answer the Front Door!
Posted: Tuesday, June 07, 2011
by Christofer French
Rain Dancer Associates, LLC
Have Agoraphobia – Will Not Travel; Will Not Relocate; Will Not Commute; Will Not Answer the Front Door.
The New York Woods
Saugerties, Near Woodstock, New York - Dense woods in the Catskills
It took 5 minutes to walk down the muddy driveway, and a delicate crossing of a ruined wooden bridge to make it to a house that used to be an active place, but was now overgrown with vines and slowly falling down.
His son visited him frequently and this was their day. The actor was too old for dancing in a performance anymore, and his contacts had dried up, gone away, or were not interested in talking to him anymore. Both he and his son knew that the prospect of theatre work was dim. What they both knew was that they must work on his raging remembrance of panic. He called it “out there”, but the trouble was that “out there” used to be Times Square. Now it was becoming the corner grocer in Saugerties.
“Dad, we have to talk. I want to tell you more about what I have learned about this.”
“I’m fine son, right here. I am comfortable with my eggs and toast and jelly and bacon. And I got this great new coffee.”
“I have some new information on agoraphobia”.
“I do love that name. It takes so long to say, it’s gotta be serious and unfixable, ya know?
The son would not be deterred. He gave him the scoop that he had learned from the National Institute of Mental Health. As he pulled out articles from his brief case, he read to him.
A Long Name for what is A Kind of Misnomer
It’s got that long name. The confusion doesn’t end there. It’s really kind of a misnomer with a long name.
The long word is “agoraphobia”. The short word is “panic”.
The Agora, a "place of assembly" in ancient city-states, from early in Greek history citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements from the established authorities. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where merchants kept stalls or shops to sell their goods. The Agora as a political and commercial space evolved. In Greek, the phrase "I shop" and the one that declares "I speak in public" derive origin from the Agora. The word agoraphobia - the “fear of critical public situations” derives from the Agora. To this actor it meant “the world”, or “Times Square”. The name in its lack of specificity is actually quite embracing; because in effect, you can fear just about anywhere, as long as you associate panic with it.
Epinephrine – The super shot that makes the dominoes fall
Out of control - help difficult to obtain – embarrassment. Agoraphobia patients can experience sudden panic attacks when traveling to places where they fear they are out of control, help would be difficult to obtain, or they could be embarrassed. During a panic attack, epinephrine is released in large amounts, triggering the body's natural fight or flight response. A panic attack typically has an abrupt onset, building to maximum intensity within 10 to 15 minutes, and rarely lasts longer than 30 minutes.
Panic Attack
Symptoms of a panic attack include palpitations, a rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, tightness in the throat and shortness of breath. Many patients report a fear of dying or of losing control of emotions and/or behavior.
Avoiding Spaces That Make Me Remember My Panic - “Open” is actually Irrelevant.
The term agoraphobia has been widely misunderstood. Its literal definition suggests a fear of "open spaces". However, this is a view that does not tell the story. Agoraphobics are not necessarily afraid of open spaces. Rather, they are afraid of having panicky feelings. For many, they happen at home, in church, in supermarkets. None of these places are "open".
This condition, which develops when a person begins to avoid spaces or situations which they associate with anxiety; becomes a kind of general free-floating carousel of thoughts and fears that spin off into “typical phobic situations". What is amazing is that almost any kind or activity can fall into this realm: driving, shopping, crowded places, traveling, standing in line, being alone, meetings and social gatherings.
Feedback Condition
Agoraphobia arises from an internal anxiety condition that has become so intense that the suffering individual fears going anywhere or doing anything in the spaces where these emotions have fallen upon them before. Once the panic attacks have started, these episodes become the ongoing stress, even when other more obvious pressures have diminished. This sets up a "feedback condition" which generally leads to increased numbers of panic attacks and, for some people, an increase in the situations or events which can produce panicky feelings. Others experience fearful feelings continuously, more a feeling of overall discomfort, rather than panic. This leads us to the next topic.
General Anxiety Disorder – GAD
Generalized Anxiety Disorder can cause this “housebound” state. A painful state of anxious anticipation can exist for those suffering from GAD. It may be hard for normal people to relate to, but this kind of condition can cause a continuing state of “nervousness” which people try to hide with great difficulty.
Under this kind of condition, places and situations become “background” causes to the general psychological state that the victim finds themselves in on a daily basis.
3 Conditions in One Can Still Be Treated
Agoraphobia, then, is a severe anxiety condition and a phobia, as well as a pattern of avoidant behavior. If GAD is very intense, it can be complicated even more. Loved ones and professionals who are informed about their patient’s state should not only be understanding, they should be careful not to think of this condition as a permanent state.
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy is a key to mastering panic. Meditation, breathing techniques and conscious self-talk about how we view life’s challenges, all can have an impact. Because this condition is obviously unique, one should also look at healing as a journey that is also special. There should be a general goal to rework the patient’s view of life and its challenges. Positive techniques, self-help books, and inspirational teachers and messages should be welcomed. The conscious desire to receive healing results should be an important prerequisite to the total treatment approach. The Joy of going on the Healing Journey should be an over arching goal instead of taking a negative approach of “killing off the pain”. (Self medication with alcohol is a problem, but also an answer that is turned to.)
The Strength in “Allowing”
Neal Sideman has written colorfully about the attitude of allowing and his positive writing on panic is very enlightening.
“In the martial art of aikido, the basic principle is not to resist the adversary, but to use his own force to defeat him. I believe this is the way to defeat panic disorder.
Anxiety and panic are never dangerous – unpleasant yes, but never dangerous. As you begin to adopt an attitude of "allowing" towards the experience of anxiety, a very amazing thing starts to happen: the anxiety lessens!
Panic is an amazing paradox. It’s the scariest experience we are capable of, and yet it is completely harmless. Adopting the attitude of allowing panic dramatically reduces panic. Panic is never dangerous, so there is no reason not to allow it. When you allow panic, it’s like popping a big, inflated balloon.
A panic attack can only occur if you are running from it. Panic is like a big dog that will chase you only if you run.”
A Catskill Breeze Can Be a Balm
The young Son did the fathering of the young Dad. They walked under very old trees. The sun tried to burn its way to their wind-cooled skin. “Dad, feel how nice it is out here?”
“Yeah, I do.” He let his stiff neck loosen and turn to the right and left.
“Remember when you taught me how to dance in West Side Story; at our community theatre production in Michigan? “When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way…” The Son smiled as he sung. You said: “Your body doesn’t know you’re nervous. It will move fluidly if all you do is smile and practice.”
“You’re right, kid.” A hawk floated above them, as a Catskill mini-storm started to brew to the west, a gust of wind came barreling through. The hawk just rode the air higher. “A breeze can be a balm, if you’re a hawk.” The Dad observed. “That hawk doesn’t have agoraphobia does he?”
“No, Dad, and you don’t need to either.”
http://www.panccure.com/Approaches/CBT/Intro_Att_of_Allowing.htm)
Additional Source:The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Great article Chris. Of course, meditation is key. Once you understand that thoughts are not you, just material fluff that comes and goes and is the basis of all our psychological problems, and once through meditation you learn to let thoughts go, everything becomes clear, calm and sane.e, thanks for the notice. I love to read you. Three lines and I'm off in a floating aeroplane. You truly imbue your pen with a certain spirit. Yours, Chris
C- Well stated w/ research...Sounds like my kind of guy.
...so, that explains a lot about why I don't like to leave the farm and go into town on the weekends.Thanks much, Bing. Yes, sometimes it's good not to let life get too complicated. You sure do some great writing from your rural perch.
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