market phobia disorder
What is a market phobia disorder?
Reasons for market phobia in people
Diagnosis and clinical features of market phobia
Prevalence and epidemic of this disease
Ways to Treat Market Anxiety or Agora Phobia
Preface:
Hello, in the continuation of the series of articles related to the subject of psychology; Today we are going to talk to you about market phobia. It is interesting to know that in this type of mental disorder, the sick person is afraid of being in crowded outdoor environments such as markets, passages, and various properties, and is constantly “thinking about how he can save himself if something terrible happens now.” This type of fear or mental disorder is one of the most common mental illnesses and that is why we have decided to talk to you about this in today’s article.
What is a market phobia disorder?
Agoraphobia, sometimes referred to as panic disorder or panic disorder is an anxiety disorder in which a person cannot leave the safe space of the home and leave the indoor environment because He is afraid of being among the people and the crowd. According to psychologists, this group of people with this type of disorder are exposed to open spaces outside the home, which are mostly “crowded and crowded (such as cinemas, arcades, markets, and shopping malls, airports, etc.). They are afraid and the reason is the existence of negative thoughts and fantasies about events and happenings that may occur and it is not possible for him to leave the environment and escape from the consequences of the accident. This disease is sometimes called panic. It can be said that in principle, applying this name to the disease of market phobia is wrong.
What is panic disorder?
Panic disorder or panic disorder: In this type of disorder, a person suffers from acute and severe anxiety attacks that are accompanied by a feeling of hopelessness with death. Panic disorder is characterized by seizures and isolated periods of extreme fear, and the number or frequency of seizures varies from a few seizures a day to just “very few or a handful of seizures for a year. Often” and most of the time. The time of these attacks is short and about one or two minutes, but its intensity is so high that sometimes the patient thinks he has suffered a stroke or cardiac arrest because during these attacks the patient suffers from symptoms such as high heart rate, shortness of breath. , Headache and sweating, body tremors and dizziness, and drowsiness. Of course, panic disorder may be associated with market panic disorder, and people with market panic disorder may also have panic attacks, but each of these two disorders is a type of mental illness on its own. Some cases have common and identical symptoms.
Well, now we come to the part where we talk about the middle ground, which is market disruption. As we have said, in this disorder, the person is very afraid of being in crowded and crowded environments. Of course, this condition can happen to many people during their lifetime, so it can not be said that these people also suffer from market phobias and should see a psychiatrist or psychologist. It is only advisable to consult a psychologist if the number of these attacks increases and the distance between them decreases, in which case you should be concerned about the occurrence of mental illness in the person in question.
Reasons for market phobia in people:
One of the theories that have been proposed in this regard and are somewhat approved, is the reflex of “fighting or escaping” the body of a person with market phobia. According to those who believe in this theory, the human body secretes hormones such as adrenaline during fear and anxiety, which causes the person to experience symptoms such as heartbeat and rapid heartbeat. This type of reflex is a natural reaction of the body that may occur in people with market phobias and lead to their vain and unreasonable fear. Despite this theory, what is certain is that this disorder is more common in people who are constantly anxious, but the causes are not yet clear. However, psychologists have cited some reasons that can increase the risk and likelihood of this disorder occurring in a person, such as physical health conditions, hereditary and genetic conditions and characteristics, anxious mood, type of learning and teaching methods and Personal education, environmental stress, depression, records and memories related to sexual abuse, drug use, the presence of people with family problems, and of course other anxiety disorders such as obsession, panic, phobia, etc. All of these can play a role in the development of this disease in different people.
Diagnosis and clinical features of market phobia:
Researchers and experts in this field have pointed out five events that at least two events should be observed in a person with this disorder. These include:
- Use of urban and interurban public transport (such as buses, taxis, subways, trains, planes, and ships)
- Presence in outdoor spaces (such as parks and gardens, indoor shopping malls, open stadiums, pedestrian bridges, or car bridges)
- Presence in indoor spaces (such as cinemas, theaters, covered shopping malls, indoor stadiums)
- Being in the crowd is like standing in long lines and…
- Staying home alone
It should be said that a person with this disorder is afraid of being in these situations and avoids them. He always thinks that if he encounters signs and symptoms similar to those of panic attacks or other symptoms that can overwhelm him and cause him embarrassment and shame in the eyes of others, there is no escape and certainly “in this The elderly, for example, are often “always afraid of falling because of the inability to hold their urine, or because of the length of time it takes for rescue and emergency services to arrive.” In this disease, fear and anxiety are always continuous and frequent and usually last for more than 6 months. However, the presence of some complications and physical diseases such as inflammation of the intestines or Parkinson’s may also play an effective role in exacerbating this disorder. Slowly
Prevalence and epidemic of this disease:
There is no definite opinion about the lifetime prevalence of this type of disorder and there is some disagreement among experts, however, this number is estimated and predicted between 2 and 6 percent. According to a study, about 2% of the adult population in the United States has agoraphobia, and this rate is about 4% among people over 65. However, some experts and researchers believe that these figures are in American society. It may be said that the main reason for this disagreement among experts is their disagreement about the relationship between agoraphobia and panic disorder. Some studies show that at least half of people with agoraphobia also have panic disorders, while field and clinical research on patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals shows that at least 75% of those with market phobias also have symptoms of panic disorder. The main reason for this discrepancy in statistics is due to differences in the style and method of research and how to collect information and statistics and classify them. A one-year period is approximately 30 per 1000. Like generalized anxiety disorder, it occurs almost twice as often in women as in men and often begins in the early or mid-second decade of life (usually between the ages of 13 and 17).
In most cases, the onset of market phobia is after a traumatic event. As we have already mentioned, the incidence of this anomaly in women is twice as high as in men, and it can be said that the main reason is that women naturally “suffer more anxiety and stress than men.” Research has also shown that most people with agoraphobia develop it before the age of 35.
Ways to Treat Market Anxiety or Agora Phobia:
Usually, there are different ways for psychologists and psychoanalysts to treat this disease, and they also use the most appropriate method according to the situation.
1- Psychological education: One of the most appropriate and effective treatment methods for anxiety disorders, including market phobia, is cognitive-behavioral therapy. In this way, the psychoanalyst gives the patient training so that he can control his unnecessary stress and anxiety and finally challenge himself with his worries and negative thoughts. In this way, and over time, he will be able to overcome his useless fears, little by little, into activities that he had previously been afraid to do.
2- Cognitive therapy of market phobia anxiety: In this method, the psychologist tries to replace the patient’s anxious and negative thoughts with realistic thoughts. This method is also called cognitive reconstruction. The therapist tries to help the client consider all of his or her negative thoughts as hypotheses and then look for evidence to support or refute them. Eventually, they will be able to come up with alternative hypotheses and find evidence to support or refute them. In this way, the client will be able to make positive hypotheses against all his negative thoughts.
3- Behavioral treatment of market phobia by exposure: One of the treatment methods of this disorder, which is widely used by psychoanalysts, is to confront the patient with what he is afraid of. In this method, the psychoanalyst tries to expose the patient to frightening physical feelings as well as natural frightening situations so that he can reject his incorrect assessment and turn off and disable conditioned emotional reactions to these feelings and situations. To be able to gradually and slowly overcome his unreasonable fear and panic. This method is one of the main and best treatments for agoraphobia as well as panic attacks.
4 – Use of relaxation techniques: In psychology, breathing retraining is used as an adaptive skill and expertise to stop excessive physiological reactions in the treatment of panic. In this method, the client is taught how to breathe through the diaphragm, breathing from the abdomen instead of breathing through the chest. In this method, the therapist is taught to focus on his breathing by counting each of his “tails” and thinking of the word “relaxation” as he exhales. During the first week of treatment, the patient should try to breathe at a normal rate and rate. After three to five minutes of successful practice in the session, he or she will be given a breathing retraining program for the coming days: ten minutes of exercise daily and twice a day, which should be done in a quiet and comfortable place.
Medication for a market anxiety disorder or agoraphobia: In this type of illness, SSRIs or SNRIs are commonly used by psychiatrists. Some antidepressants, such as fluoxetine and sertraline, affect the hormone serotonin. They are often much more effective than other medications that have anti-anxiety properties. With the right dose, you may need to change your medication every few days or weeks to get the best medication for your condition that has the fewest side effects. Both at the time of initiation and at the time of discontinuation of the drug, the psychiatrist must abide by the law of gradualism.
