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Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by anxiety in situations where the sufferer perceives the environment to be dangerous, uncomfortable, or unsafe. These situations can include wide-open spaces, uncontrollable social situations, unfamiliar places, shopping malls, airports, and bridges. Agoraphobia is defined within the DSM-IV TR as a subset of panic disorder, involving the fear of incurring a panic attack in those environments.〔Behavenet. DSM-IV & DSM-IV TR: (Agorophobia ).〕 In the DSM-5, however, agoraphobia is classified as being separate from panic disorder.〔(Highlights of Changes from DSM-IV-TR to DSM-5 ) (PDF). American Psychiatric Association. May 17, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.〕 The sufferers may go to great lengths to avoid those situations, in severe cases becoming unable to leave their homes or safe havens. Although mostly thought to be a fear of public places, it is now believed that agoraphobia develops as a complication of panic attacks. However, evidence indicates the implied one-way causal relationship between spontaneous panic attacks and agoraphobia in DSM-IV may be incorrect. Onset is usually between ages 20 and 40 years and more common in women. About 3.2 million, or about 2.2% of adults in the US between the ages of 18 and 54, suffer from agoraphobia.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title = Percentage Of Americans With Phobias )〕 Agoraphobia can account for about 60% of phobias.〔(p212 )〕 Studies have shown two different age groups at first onset: early to mid twenties, and early thirties. In response to a traumatic event, anxiety may interrupt the formation of memories and disrupt the learning processes, resulting in dissociation. Depersonalization (a feeling of disconnection from one’s self) and derealisation (a feeling of disconnection from one's surroundings) are other dissociative methods of withdrawing from anxiety.〔Nettina, M,S. 2006. ''Manual of Nursing Practice''. 8th Ed. US:Lippincott Company.〕 Standardized tools, such as the Panic and Agoraphobia Scale, can be used to measure the severity of agoraphobia and panic attacks and monitor treatment. The term "agoraphobia" was coined by the German psychiatrist Carl Friedrich Otto Westphal, from Greek ἀγορά, meaning "large public square/marketplace" and -φοβία, ''-phobia'', meaning "fear".〔Elze M, Elze S (2015): (''Agoraphobie: Carl Westphal'' ), Retrieved 2015-05-19.〕 ==Signs and symptoms== Agoraphobia is a condition where sufferers become anxious in unfamiliar environments or where they perceive that they have little control. Triggers for this anxiety may include wide-open spaces, crowds (social anxiety), or traveling (even short distances). Agoraphobia is often, but not always, compounded by a fear of social embarrassment, as the agoraphobic fears the onset of a panic attack and appearing distraught in public. This is also sometimes called "social agoraphobia", which may be a subtype of social anxiety disorder. Not all agoraphobia is social in nature, however. Some agoraphobics have an exclusive fear of open spaces. Agoraphobia is also defined as "a fear, sometimes terrifying, by those who have experienced one or more panic attacks". In these cases, the sufferer is fearful of a particular place because they have experienced a panic attack at the same location at a previous time. Fearing the onset of another panic attack, the sufferer is fearful or even avoids location. Some refuse to leave their homes even in medical emergencies because the fear of being outside of their comfort areas is too great. Researchers have found similarities between symptoms of agoraphobia and the stereotypical female sex roles cast upon society. Researchers assert the socialization of stereotypic feminine behavior – helplessness, dependence, unassertiveness, accommodation – contributes to the development and maintenance of the characteristics of agoraphobia.〔Capps Lisa and Ochs Elinor. ''Constructing Panic: the Discourse of Agoraphobia''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995. Print.〕 The sufferers can sometimes go to great lengths to avoid the locations where they have experienced the onset of a panic attack. Agoraphobia, as described in this manner, is actually a symptom professionals check when making a diagnosis of panic disorder. Other syndromes like obsessive compulsive disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder can also cause agoraphobia. Essentially, any irrational fear that keeps one from going outside can cause the syndrome.〔(Psych Central: Agoraphobia Symptoms )〕 Agoraphobics not uncommonly also suffer from temporary separation anxiety disorder when certain other individuals of the household depart from the residence temporarily, such as a parent or spouse, or when the agoraphobic is left home alone. Such temporary conditions can result in an increase in anxiety or a panic attack or feeling the need to separate themselves from family or maybe friends. Another common associative disorder of agoraphobia is thanatophobia, the fear of death. The anxiety level of agoraphobics often increases when dwelling upon the idea of eventually dying, which they may consciously or unconsciously associate with being the ultimate separation from their emotional comfort and safety zones and loved ones, even for those who may otherwise believe in some form of afterlife. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Agoraphobia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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