Elevators, bridges, malls, and expressways are common places. Avoidance of the situations or places. Anxiety if placed in the situation or place. Many of these symptoms also indicate other disorders. For instance, people may not leave their home because they are depressed and are not interested in the outside world.
Professional help can evaluate for agoraphobia or other disorders.
The main treatment for agoraphobia is a certain type of Cognitive Therapycalled exposure therapy. The goal of this therapy is to get the person to confront the fear directly. With success they learn that they have nothing to fear. The first step of this therapy is to treat Panic Disorderbecause most people with agoraphobia also have panic disorder. As the panic attacks disappear, the person becomes more confident about facing the situations they fear.