Agoraphobia and Emetophobia

[sparky2004]

Sometimes I avoid going out in public places in fear of getting sick, or if my stomach is somewhat upset.Here's the breakdown.


Agoraphobia


Greek definition: "agora" meaning a place of assembly, "phobos" meaning flight, panic.


Principal Fears: fear of being in crowded places or in public. Also, Fear of traveling away from home (either alone or for some even when accompanied), collapsing, fainting, panicking, paralzsed on the street, giddiness, entering stores, standing in line.


Other less freqent fears: being alone in the house, death, physical illness, going mad, feelings of unreality, persistant frightening thoughts, fear of losing a loved one, harming others (especially a child), loss of confidence, depression, fear of accidents, insecurity, blushing,andemetophobia (fear of being sick).


Relation to Emetophobia: fear of getting sick in a crowded place/public place. (avoidance of certian public place/areas in fear in getting sick.


Certain discrete phobias (such as fear of a certian animal, cars, ect.,) & obsessions (compulsive handwashing) can also be present in some cases.


Cause of illness: (precipitating causes of agoraphobia given in order of freqency were) physicall illness (infection, accident, surgery, throwing up), domestic stress in adult life, loss of loved one, difficulty or pressure at work, domineering parent(s), a parent who had a nervous breakdown, unhappy parent(s), an alcoholic parent, being an only child, having a nervous disposition.


Age of onset of agoraphobia: the majority first became ill in their 20's to 30's. (Note: I was in my late teens.)


Symptoms: panic, palpitations, difficulty in expanding the chest, feeling of collapse, difficulty in swallowing, any new disturbing symptom. (typical panic/anxiety symptoms)


The Four Concepts to Overcoming:Face - do not run away. Accept -do not fight. Float - do not tense up. Let time pass - do not be impatient with time.


*Note: I have emetophobia coupled with agoraphobia. My agoraphobia is a direct result of fear of throwing up at all, especially in public places, even a woman's bathroom, a bus, a theater or in class.





Edited by: sparky2004

[spice]

I have been diagnosed with agoraphobia as a result
of my emetophobia. Most of the things listed by
sparky about principal fears, less frequent fears and
symptoms are spot on for me.

For years i never spoke about it because i thought it
was just me being a freak. but recently i have been
more open about it since i found out that it has a
name and is a real phobia. Luckily i have a very
supportive boyfriend. He admits that he can't quite
understand what i am going through because he's
never had a panic attack but he tries to give me
whatever support/help he can.

[Melikasa]

I have both. Being in a relationship with a loving, understanding husband in combo with Celexa and a less stressful environment has helped me deal with both phobias.
I have had agoraphobia since I was 15 and emet since I was 2. I didn't know that I wasn't just wierd till a couple of years ago. My old BF use to use it to threaten me and it made my phobias worse.