The word “agoraphobia” comes from Greek word that means “fear of market places.” Agoraphobia is a condition in which a person begins to avoid spaces or situations associated with anxiety. This anxiety disorder involves the fear of experiencing a panic attack in a place or situation from which escape may be difficult or embarrassing. Persons with agoraphobia may also develop fatigue, tension, alcohol or drug abuse problems, and obsessive disorders, making seeking treatment crucial.

Treatment of Agoraphobia is following:

• Agoraphobia can be successfully treated through exposure therapy combined with cognitive therapy. Exposure therapy is based on undoing the association that the patient originally formed between the panic symptoms and the feared situation. Exposure treatment can provide lasting relief to the majority of patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia.
• Agoraphobia can be effectively treated with cognitive behavioral therapy. Over 90% of people who stick with this therapy are helped. The most widely used method of behavior therapy is systematic desensitization. In this treatment, people with agoraphobia gradually face their fears until they become more and more comfortable.
• Some anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications can be helpful in treating agoraphobia. Medications that have been used with patients diagnosed with agoraphobia include the benzodiazepine tranquilizers, the MAO inhibitors (MAOIs), tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), and the selective serotonin uptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.
• Alternative treatments of agoraphobia include hypnotherapy, acupuncture, guided imagery meditation, music therapy, yoga, and ayurvedic medicine.

Prevention

Early treatment for panic attacks can help prevent agoraphobia. Agoraphobia often develops as a response to panic attacks. Instead of avoiding places where you have had a panic attack, it is better to seek medical care. Recent recognition of the link between anxiety and mood disorders in parents and vulnerability to phobic disorders in their children may help to identify children at risk and to develop appropriate preventive strategies for them.