What is Agoraphobia?
- Taliyah H, Abigail L, Max M & Nicoletta P.
- Apr 7
- 4 min read
Have you ever been affected by anxious thoughts or feelings while out in public? Or needed to leave a social gathering because of it? Agoraphobia is a mental health condition that effects 1-2% of the global population (ITS America, 2025). It is very important to understand how it influences people’s day-to-day life if you know somebody with the condition or are concerned that you may have it. Knowing potential risk factors, symptoms, and treatment options can help reduce stress and put you in the right direction.
What is Agoraphobia?
Agoraphobia is when you get super anxious about being in places/situations where you might feel trapped, or unable to get help if you start panicking. You might also feel nervous about leaving the house, or being stuck somewhere, which could also feel embarrassing. If you can’t avoid these places, it’s very stressful to go to them.
Examples of Symptoms
Extreme anxiety/fear about at least 2 of the following situations:
Using public transportation
Being in open spaces, like parking lots, bridges or markets
Being in enclosed spaces, like stores or the movie theater
Standing in lines or being in crowds
Being outside of your home by yourself
Fearing or avoiding the situations because escape is thought to be difficult, or help isn’t available should a panic attack occur.
The situations nearly always cause anxiety, or fear.
The situations are intentionally avoided, require a support-person, or are dealt with while experiencing extreme anxiety.
The fears are out of proportion to what could happen in these situations.
The anxiety has been continual for at least 6 months.
The anxiety causes impairments in daily life.
If a medical issue is also present, the anxiety is still excessive.
The anxiety is not better explained by another mental health issue.
(American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
How does Agoraphobia affect your life?
Agoraphobia affects your life by making you avoid situations that may be important to your daily routine. Altering your route to avoid specific places could make you late for school which could heavily impact your academic success if it is a common re-occurrence. It can also make you miss out on special life events, including your prom or graduation. It may take a large toll on your life because no matter how much you want to be at a specific event, or show up somewhere at a specific time, this disorder impacts you so much that you cannot do it. Missing these events, especially if you really wanted to attend, can pile up guilt and shame which will negatively impact your mental health even more. It could also cause distance between friends, and loved ones, and can even break strong bonds.
Risk Factors
There are a handful of risk factors associated with agoraphobia, and the more risk factors you have increases your chances of developing it. If there is history of any anxiety disorders in your family, you could be genetically predisposed (MSD Manuals, 2023). In terms of genetics, women are also about twice as likely to be affected compared to men (NIMH). If you are already experiencing other mental health disorders (such as other phobias or depression), agoraphobia can happen along side them and potentially make the symptoms worse. If you are already someone who naturally experiences more anxiety or lower self-confidence than the average person, you are more susceptible to developing it. Lastly, experiencing traumatic events, like abuse or death of a loved one, can act as a trigger (MSD Manuals, 2023).
Neural Basis
The parts of the brain most impacted by agoraphobia are the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. These areas of the brain deal with fear processing and regulate threat responses. The amygdala is the alarm bell, and the prefrontal cortex helps you to logically think about threats. In agoraphobia, the amygdala is typically over-active, while the prefrontal cortex is under-active, leading to heightened anxiety responses that cannot be challenged with logical thoughts (Asmundson et al., 2023).
Treatment Options
There are a few treatments for agoraphobia that have shown to be effective. Two types of therapies, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure Therapy, can help treat agoraphobia. CBT guides the patient to reduce their avoidance of situations by helping them understand and challenge their fears. Exposure therapy is related to CBT, and it exposes the patient to their feared situations in a controlled setting to help reduce anxiety over time. Medication can also be used as a treatment option to help manage symptoms. The most common medications prescribed are antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications (Cleveland Clinic).
Closing
Although agoraphobia is quite rare, it heavily impacts the lives of those who have experienced it. It may be hard for some people to understand how it impacts the mind, but some panic-like symptoms can be seen externally. If you are concerned you may have agoraphobia, there are many effective treatment options you can explore if you get a diagnosis. Educating yourself on mental health conditions, even those that you may not experience, is vital in understanding and showing support to those around you.
Call-to-Action
Comment below about what places are scary for you, and what helps you to deal with it. Check out the other blog posts for information on other mental health conditions.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.).
Asmundson, G.J.G., Krakauer, R.L., Rachor, G.S., Taylor, S. (2023). Anxiety and Fear-Related Disorders: Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia. In: Tasman, A., et al. Tasman’s Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42825-9_160-1
Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Agoraphobia: What It Is, Causes, Symptoms & Treatment. Retrieved from my.clevelandclinic.org
ITS America. (2025, February). Agoraphobia statistics: Global trends and insights. Retrieved from itsamerica.org
MSD Manual Professional Edition. (n.d.). Agoraphobia. Retrieved from msdmanuals.com
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