Thursday, March 02, 2006

More Agoraphobia Symptoms

After writing about the symptoms of Agoraphobia I thought of two more. At least they are symptoms I had.

One is fear of being alone. I was totally afraid to be without a safe person even if I was in a safe place. I had sort of a dependence on being near someone I thought could help me if I had a panic attack or medical emergency. My safe people wer basically my parents.

The other symptom is called "scanning." That just means being hyper-aware of your body and its sensations, foevere looking for strange symptoms. A lot of agoraphobics suffer from a degree of hypochondria. We are afraid we will get the symptoms of just about any disorder we hear about - which causes more anxiety.

I could lie in bed for quite a while focusing on my body and trying to notice strange symoptoms. I would feel my chest to see if my heart was still beating or beating in the correct rythm. I would also blow into my palm just to make sure I was still breathing and my lungs were still working.

I was totally afraid either my heart or lungs would stop if I didn't monitor them. I am sure other people with agoraphobia focus in on other things.

Anyway, those are two more agoraphobia symptoms I missed last time. Next I'll write about some ways agoraphobia is treated.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home