Before we begin our attempt to explain and define agoraphobia, let’s show why we decided to talk about it. We will show the reason in terms of numbers.

We have found a figure that says the rate of agoraphobia in the US is about 1 person in 84 people who are driving and dealing with agoraphobia. This means that there are 3.2 million people in the US who have agoraphobia.

Agoraphobia as a disorder is classified within anxiety disorders in DSM IV anxiety. Therefore, it is considered as one of the types of anxiety.

A simple definition of agoraphobia that we come across says that this disorder is the fear of open spaces. Not only do we find that this definition is simple in nature, but it also does not give all the necessary dimensions to understand its real scope.

If we delve deeper to find more precise and elaborate definitions for agoraphobia disorder, we find an explanation that says that it is a condition in which a person is afraid of being in places or situations that are outside their familiar environment.

A person suffering from agoraphobia is generally confined to a place and/or person with whom they are comfortable and familiar. Any situation that takes this person out of those comfort zones could trigger a panic attack.

Agoraphobics are usually afraid of panic attacks or a single panic attack symptom to strike while out in public. The fear of such embarrassment is seen as the main trigger for this phobia which in turn triggers and fuels the panic attack and its symptoms.

Agoraphobia causes the sufferer to experience great anxiety or panic attacks even when attempting to perform normal tasks if these tasks require them to be away from safe places or people.

Agoraphobics are sometimes divided into two groups: The first group includes agoraphobes with a history of panic disorder. The second group includes agoraphobes with no such history. However, most people who are agoraphobic are in the group with a history of panic disorder.

There is a school of thought that says that all anxiety related disorders are found in one place. This place is called the amygdala. The amygdala is a small organ in the subconscious brain. This organ is said to be responsible for many emotional decisions, including the anxiety response.

There are programs that build on the above belief and treat agoraphobia by treating the person suffering from anxiety in general, rather than treating the specific type of anxiety, which in this case is agoraphobia.

Such programs believe that general anxiety is the source of such types of anxiety and therefore prefer to treat the source rather than the branch.