Hypnotherapy for AgoraphobiaWhat is Agoraphobia?

hypnotherapy for agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is the generalized fear of leaving home or a familiar 'safe' area, and of the possible anxiety or panic attacks that might follow. The agoraphobic person is afraid of being in situations where escape might be difficult.

It is a fear that causes the person suffering from agoraphobia to feel intensely vulnerable. (Agoraphobia is sometimes misspelled as 'agrophobia', 'agorophobia', or 'agoraphobia')

Until quite recently, agoraphobia was defined simply as a fear of open spaces.

That definition has now rightly been expanded to include several other related fears such as the fear of entering shops or shopping malls, the fear of crowds and public places, or the fear of travelling alone on trains, buses or aeroplanes. It also includes the anxiety associated with being unable to quickly reach a place of safety , and the fear of being left alone in the house (monophobia).

I had reached a point when leaving the house had become a nightmare.
I can now holiday, visit friends and go to work after his therapies.
I cannot recommend this gentleman enough,
my only regret being I never heard about him years ago!
- Steven Humphreys, Birmingham

In the UK, agoraphobia is the only phobia regularly treated as a medical condition. It may also be thought of as a form of anxiety disorder, and fear of crowds as a form of social anxiety. The good news is that agoraphobia can be effectively treated.

Agoraphobia Symptoms

hypnotherapy for agoraphobia
Symptoms of agoraphobia fall into 3 categories: physical, cognitive (or thought processes), and behavioural. Each intertwines with the other, and the person may be aware of all or only some of these symptoms when experiencing agoraphobia.

Agoraphobia symptoms are practically identical to those of an panic or anxiety attack. In fact, anxiety attacks are a common feature of agoraphobia. Often it is the fear of having such a panic attack that affects the person's ability to function.

Physical symptoms include increased hearbeat, rapid and shallow breathing, sweating, nausea, pain in the chest, trembling, and feeling faint.

Agoraphobia symptoms also have the ability to affect the thinking, generating the fear that the person will be humiliated or embarrassed when panicking, or that an anxiety attack might make the heart stop or cause them to die of asphyxiation. The fear of losing control is often at the heart of agoraphobia.

Because anxiety attacks can be unpredictable, the person experiencing them often worries that they will happen when they are in a public place. This can cause the person to start avoiding any situation where a panic attack might happen, forcing them to steer clear of situations that might be associated with panic, such as open spaces, crowded places, public transport etc.

This limits the person's freedom of movement, affecting their day to day activities.

Left untreated, agoraphobia can escalate to the point where the person cannot leave home unless accompanied by someone they trust. It is a condition that has the potential to close down a person's life, turning them into a recluse.

Agoraphobia Causes

In general, agoraphobia often begins between the ages of 18 to 35, usually becoming more apparent in the person's late 20s. It appears to be more common in women than in men (although this may be because fewer men seek help).

The agoraphobia cause lies always in the person's past. Agoraphobia is always the result of past sensitizing events that have conditioned (or 'programmed') the subconscious mind to react in an overly defensive manner. It has associated danger with certain places and situations and now produces the fear response when encountering—or sometimes even imagining or thinking about—them again.

Is There an Agoraphobia Cure?Overcoming Agoraphobia with Hypnosis

hypnotherapy for agoraphobia
The conscious mind may remember the initial sensitizing event, or it may have completely forgotten it. The subconscious, however, forgets nothing and so it is to the subconscious that we need to turn in order to properly treat the agoraphobia response.

It is here thay hypnosis can be so useful. Using advanced psychotherapeutic strategies, we can uncover the cause of the problem and 'reprogram' the mind, altering the faulty perceptions and so neutralizing the conditioned response and overcoming agoraphobia.

Though more complex than other, more simple phobias, agoraphobia often responds well to the right kind of hypnotherapeutic approach. With CHI-HypnoTherapy™, it is possible to greatly alleviate the suffering caused by agoraphobia.

With hypnotherapy in Birmingham you can learn how to overcome agoraphobia and reclaim your life.

Call us now on 07910 245 159 and get the help you need in overcoming agoraphobia*.

All calls are treated in the utmost confidence.

*Unfortunately, we are unable to make house calls.

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