What is Agoraphobia? How do we deal with it? Mental Health Help with Kati Morton

Hey, everybody!

Today, I'm going to talk with you about
agoraphobia.

What is it? And how do we work on it
if we struggle?

music

So like I said, today I want to talk
with you about

Agoraphobia

and make sure if you like these types
of videos

you give it a thumbs up

and let YouTube know how important
mental health is.

But, agoraphobia.

What is it?

Many of you have reached out and told me
that you struggle with it

or are wanting me to do a video about it
because someone in your life

struggles with it and you want to know
how to better help them.

So what is agoraphobia?

Well it falls under the category of
anxiety disorders

and i'm going to read, obviously,
as I always do, from my DSM

It tells us exactly what the diagnostic
criteria is

and it says that "agoraphobia is a marked
fear or anxiety

about two or more of the following
five situations: "

So people are really scared about these

They're either scared of using
public transportation,

of being in open spaces,

being in enclosed spaces,

standing in line or being in a crowd,

or being outside of the home alone.

Now they'll avoid these situations because
they kind of fear

that escape may be difficult or extremely
embarassing.

So they try to not put themselves in those
situations,

as you can imagine, because they're really
scared

that they wont be able to leave

or if they feel a panic attack coming on,
or they feel their anxiety rise

they just can't get out, like they're in
an elevator

and they have to wait 'til the next floor
'cause they can't get out in time

and that thought and that worry keep them
out of those situations

and for some people can even cause them
to be homebound

which can be really difficult.

So I made some notes so that I don't
forget what I wanted to mention.

But the people who struggle with this

can also be diagnosed with panic disorder

which I have a video on that.
You can click here to check it out.

I'm going to talk about what
a panic attack is

and how it's different from just having
"anxiety"

and kind of break that down.

But the people who struggle with
agoraphobia

can also have panic disorder

but they don't have to.

These aren't the same.

But many people who struggle with
agoraphobia

also struggle with panic disorder.

Like I said, they worry about being
in an elevator

And, not, feeling okay and feeling really
panicked and needing to get out

and not being able to.

And that fear makes them avoid those
situations because

nobody wants to have that happen.

Okay.

So, the interesting thing for me.

I always love hearing, "Who can get better
from this?"

"How do people work on it?"

"What's the way that we can overcome it?"
because just

knowing we struggle with something isn't
enough.

Yes, it's great to put a name to something
that we've really been having a hard time with.

But then what?

Okay. So, I have agoraphobia.

Then what? What do I do?

Why did this happen?

And the remission rates of the symptoms,
overall symptoms,

every symptom, even that little bit of
fear is only 10%.

So we really have to work on this because

it will always kind of be there in
the background

but we can better manage it.

Just like we can better manage our
panic attacks

and any kind of anxiety we have
by different tools

that I'll talk about at the end.

So, unless agoraphobia is treated,

people only get into remission at 10%.

That's if you haven't gotten treatment, okay?

So getting treatment is very important.

And if you do, remission rates go up.

So what causes it?

Just like most mental illnesses
we don't really know for sure.

Like I always say, we can't really test it.
We don't know.

But they suspect that having
a panic disorder and other phobias

can really play a role in us struggling
with agoraphobia.

So if we already -it's almost like some of
the other videos I've created

and things that I've talked about,
whether it be stuttering,

or any kind of neural
development disorder,

if we struggle with another one of those,
in that same classification,

so for agoraphobia, any anxiety disorder
makes us more predisposed

to struggle with agoraphobia.

And so, there are also other genetic
components.

61% of, -it's a, it's the percentage of you,
-the chances of you having it [sic]

if someone else in your family has it.

That's a pretty high percentage.

It's more than 50% likely that you're
going to have it.

So it increases your chances.

So if someone in your life has
agoraphobia,

it might be good, when you are getting
older and you start feeling like

maybe you struggle with anxiety, to reach out
for help sooner rather than later

because I don't want us to have it get
so bad

that we're stuck at home, that we feel
like we can't leave, everything's really hard.

The sooner we get help, the better.

So if you are struggling, reach out.

I promise, there are tons of physicians
and therapists and psychiatrists

and psychologists and all sorts of
people in the field

that can help you, okay?

And so it's kind of inherited.

And there can also be some
environmental issues they say

can lead to it.

Having some experience with some
really scary and negative events in childhood

that they talk about everything from abuse
of any kind

to witnessing scary events or having PTSD
situations come up in childhood.

All of that can make it harder for us
and make us more

predisposed to struggle with agoraphobia.

They even talked about losing a parent
at a really young age.

If that happened in a really traumatic way

and a really quick fashion,

that that can also lead to it.

So what do we do?

Like I said, a lot of times we know
we have things.

"Okay, great. Awesome, now I have a name
to call that

feeling that I've been having forever.
Now what?"

What are our treatment options?
And there are a lot out there.

Like I said, reach out. Get help. Because
if we don't, remission rates are very low.

The number one, ta-da!
You're looking at it. Psychotherapy

"How does that make you feel?"

And the reason that they say
that this is so great,

and obviously, as with all
anxiety disorders,

CBT is best.

I have a video on it.

If you want to watch it, you can click here
and check it out.

But it works to change faulty thinking,
-as you'll see in my CBT video-

and correct firmly held beliefs that are
hindering your life.

The firmly held belief here would be
something to the effect of,

"If I can get out and it's really embarassing

I'll never live down the shame."

or it could be anything related to
the anxiety.

Like if I get out and I'm in
an elevator

I'm gonna have a panic attack.
That's gonna happen.

Any belief like that. If I try to drive
my car over a bridge,

I'm gonna have a panic attack and
I'm gonna fly off the bridge

and I'm gonna kill myself.

There can be all sorts of these beliefs
that you don't even recognize

are happening or that the thoughts
are even there.

But being able to talk about it and
work on it in CBT

because they have you write down
all those thoughts and record them,

can help us better notice them and
manage them and overcome them.

So CBT is best.

It says, "You can slowly learn that

your fears are very unlikely to come true,

and if you're worried about getting out
of the house to see a therapist

-it's very important, I have it highlighted
with an asterisk, and everything-

They're worried about getting out
of the house so like,

"Kati, I can't reach out for help because
I can't get out of the house."

Most therapists who work with people
with anxiety disorders,

especially agoraphobia,

will come to your house!
They make house calls.

It's part of what they do.

It makes sense, right? Because if we're
really struggling,

they're gonna have to come to us.

Okay. The second thing is medication.

And it's the obvious ones that I always
bring up

antidepressants and anti-anxiety
medications like

benzodiazepines, that's like Xanax,
and all those different kinds of medications

and I'm not a doctor so don't ask me
about medications

because I only know what they recommend
and then I write them down

with my clients and then I talk with
their psychiatrist.

But medications can help us sometimes
just get out of the haze or the water

or whatever we feel we're in.

If we feel like we're drowning in it,

can help us get our head above just enough

for us to participate in therapy.

Because sometimes, we're so overcome with
anxiety and worry

about the agoraphobia and worry about
being somewhere

and worry about getting help,
and that worry

stops us from even being able to
do anything.

We're like frozen.

You ever felt like paralyzed by fear,
or worry, or anxiety? [sic]

Like, "I can't even -I don't know where
to start. Ah!"

It's overwhelming. And so medication
can sometimes help us get there.

Where then, we can start working on things.

It doesn't mean you have to stay on it
forever.

I have many clients who have gone on it
and then gone off.

And so, it's up to you. Talk to your doctor.

Tell them what your concerns are.

Worries about side-effects or staying
on it forever.

Whatever your concerns are
bring 'em up!

There are a lot -there -you're
-totally willing [sic]

and it's totally reasonable to have
worries and concerns and questions

when you see your doctor.

And the benzo's.

I know everybody's like,
"Oh, but I'm gonna get addicted and ahh

-I don't really like that."

Those are like fire extinguishers.

We have a fire. We're gonna have
a panic attack.

We're already out in public. We have
to be here for work or whatever.

It's your sister's birthday. You promised
you'd go.

Whatever it is it doesn't matter.

But that fire is ignited and we need
a fire-stopper

and Xanax can be great for that.

Don't use it all the time.

Only use it when you have a fire, okay?

I call them fires. It helps me visualize.

I like that. "Put it out! No. No more."

So those are great things for, you know,
short-term basis, for situations,

and I think the overall thing that
I want to get across to you

is that if you're having a hard time,

if your anxiety's getting worse,

even if it doesn't have to necessarily
do with agoraphobia,

please reach out for help!

Please share this video!
Please let people know they're not weird,

doesn't make you a freak, it's not something
that doesn't happen.

There are a lot of people who struggle
with this

and if we don't get help, if we don't
reach out,

only 10% of us will get better!

I don't like those rates. Do you?

No. That's not good.

So share. Talk about it.

Reach out because it can get better.

Therapists can come to your house.
There is help available.

And even online, even talking about it,
venting about it can be helpful.

So reach out. Share this video.
Share the information.

Know that it can get better and we will
keep working together

towards a healthy mind,
and a healthy body.