What are the Agoraphobia Treatments That Work?

Aug 01, 2013

If you are looking for alternative options to take on panic attack treatment, there is a great need for you to get acquainted first with the various kinds of therapy techniques that can be administered to you prior to engaging yourself into one for the very first time. This will give you a good chance of having an educated decision on the kind of treatment options you would like to take; therefore you’d be able to select an option that both of you, you and the therapist will work best for you, ensuring your fast recovery.

While your professional therapist will ensure that the kind of agoraphobia treatment you are going to have is the most suitable procedure for you to take, be aware that you need to take your own accountability too so you will indeed recover from this kind of anxiety disorder. Simply put, you need to help your therapist help you and your cooperation is highly essential, too.  There is nothing wrong if you will adhere to everything that your therapist will advise you to do and take, but be aware that there are professionals too that have  a tendency to have a biased opinion especially on the kind of therapies with which they are most familiar and accustomed to. Since your therapist is essentially working for you, it is just but right that you remain informed of everything that concerns your agoraphobia treatment.

In most cases, medication treatment in conjunction with cognitive therapy and behavior therapy has been found to be the most effective approach in helping a patient recovers from his agoraphobia.

Let me show you a good description with respect to these 3 forms of therapy that is most promising in agoraphobia treatment.

 

Behavioral Therapy

This therapy aims to help the patient concentrate more on altering the avoidance behavior that he has which often leads the way to having anxiety attacks.  There are two forms of behavioral therapy that is proven to be more effective than many others, they are flooding and desensitization. Systematic desensitization can be described in simple terms as a kind of therapy wherein the subject would gradually expose and immerse himself to  his most feared situations in the hope that it will help recondition his thoughts about it  and consequently feel more relaxed as opposed to reacting by way of panic and anxiety. Flooding, on the other end, is to force one’s self to be in his most feared scenario or situation, get used to it until such time that his fears subside on its  own.

Cognitive Therapy

The main focus of this form of therapy is altering the anxiety-inducing thought patterns.  Cognitive therapy comes in three varying forms, namely thought stopping, focusing and thought replacing.  Thought replacing, which is sometimes called cognitive restructuring, enables a patient to identify  his own his irrational, anxiety-producing way of thinking. With thought stopping, you are enabled how to  have awareness of and cut your own irrational thoughts at any given point in time whereas when it comes to  focusing you will be taught how to shift your focus and your full attention into something else in your immediate environment.  This will involve all your senses which will help divert your feelings of anxiety or panic.

 

 Medication

This technique involves altering of the physical processes of your brain which can be achieved by way of chemical intervention. Basically there are two kinds of effective medications for agoraphobia treatment, namely SSRIs and benzodiazepines. Commonly used Xanax, Valium and Ativan are typical examples of Benzodiazepines.  The Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRIs are the new generation of antidepressants and belonging to this classification are Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft.

Basically when you take medications for whatever condition you may be having, it is always best that you are fully aware of the possible side-effects, withdrawal effects and tolerance levels for such drugs you are taking. Finally, remember that taking medications alone is not a sufficient form of agoraphobia treatment. You need to take them in conjunction with your practice of behavioral and cognitive therapy.

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