Health encyclopaedia

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Symptoms of Agoraphobia

People with agoraphobia may experience some or all of the following symptoms when in public places:

• Shaking
• Rapid heart beat
• Intense sweating
• Chest pain
• Difficulty breathing
• Feelings of choking
• Feeling sick (nausea)
• Dizziness
• Feelings of losing control
• Fear of fainting
• Fear of dying

It is rare for a person to have all of these symptoms at once. However, if someone experiences several of these symptoms together this suggests it is a panic attack.

In extreme cases, the symptoms can make the person flee from where they are to a place where they feel safe. This can make them avoid the situation that brought on the symptoms in the future.

Although some people with agoraphobia will feel marked anxiety or distress on leaving home or being in public places the symptoms do not develop into a panic attack.

Some agoraphobics may experience little anxiety because they can avoid the situations that cause their phobia. Agoraphobia is also linked to some other conditions like depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

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