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Phobias fear of crowds


Agoraphobia - Symptoms and causes

Overview

Agoraphobia (ag-uh-ruh-FOE-be-uh) is a type of anxiety disorder. Agoraphobia involves fearing and avoiding places or situations that might cause panic and feelings of being trapped, helpless or embarrassed. You may fear an actual or upcoming situation. For example, you may fear using public transportation, being in open or enclosed spaces, standing in line, or being in a crowd.

The anxiety is caused by fear that there's no easy way to escape or get help if the anxiety gets overwhelming. You may avoid situations because of fears such as getting lost, falling, or having diarrhea and not being able to get to a bathroom. Most people who have agoraphobia develop it after having one or more panic attacks, causing them to worry about having another attack. They then avoid the places where it may happen again.

Agoraphobia often results in having a hard time feeling safe in any public place, especially where crowds gather and in locations that are not familiar. You may feel that you need a companion, such as a family member or friend, to go with you to public places. The fear can be so overwhelming that you may feel you can't leave your home.

Agoraphobia treatment can be challenging because it means confronting your fears. But with proper treatment — usually a form of therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy and medicines — you can escape the trap of agoraphobia and live a more enjoyable life.

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Symptoms

Typical agoraphobia symptoms include fear of:

  • Leaving home alone.
  • Crowds or waiting in line.
  • Enclosed spaces, such as movie theaters, elevators or small stores.
  • Open spaces, such as parking lots, bridges or malls.
  • Using public transportation, such as a bus, plane or train.

These situations cause anxiety because you fear you won't be able to escape or find help if you start to feel panicked. Or you may fear having other disabling or embarrassing symptoms, such as dizziness, fainting, falling or diarrhea.

In addition:

  • Your fear or anxiety is out of proportion to the actual danger of the situation.
  • You avoid the situation, you need a companion to go with you, or you endure the situation but are extremely upset.
  • You have major distress or problems with social situations, work or other areas in your life because of the fear, anxiety or avoidance.
  • Your fear and avoidance usually lasts six months or longer.

Panic disorder and agoraphobia

Some people have panic disorder in addition to agoraphobia. Panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder that includes panic attacks. A panic attack is a sudden feeling of extreme fear that reaches a peak within a few minutes and triggers a variety of intense physical symptoms. You might think that you're totally losing control, having a heart attack or even dying.

Fear of another panic attack can lead to avoiding similar situations or the place where it happened in an attempt to prevent future panic attacks.

Symptoms of a panic attack can include:

  • Rapid heart rate.
  • Trouble breathing or a feeling of choking.
  • Chest pain or pressure.
  • Lightheadedness or dizziness.
  • Feeling shaky, numb or tingling.
  • Sweating too much.
  • Sudden flushing or chills.
  • Upset stomach or diarrhea.
  • Feeling a loss of control.
  • Fear of dying.

When to see a doctor

Agoraphobia can severely limit your ability to socialize, work, attend important events and even manage the details of daily life, such as running errands.

Don't let agoraphobia make your world smaller. Call your health care provider or a mental health professional if you have symptoms of agoraphobia or panic attacks.

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Causes

Biology — including health conditions and genetics — personality, stress and learning experiences may all play a role in the development of agoraphobia.

Risk factors

Agoraphobia can begin in childhood, but usually starts in the late teen or early adult years — usually before age 35. But older adults also can develop it. Females are diagnosed with agoraphobia more often than males are.

Risk factors for agoraphobia include:

  • Having panic disorder or other excessive fear reactions, called phobias.
  • Responding to panic attacks with too much fear and avoidance.
  • Experiencing stressful life events, such as abuse, the death of a parent or being attacked.
  • Having an anxious or nervous personality.
  • Having a blood relative with agoraphobia.

Complications

Agoraphobia can greatly limit your life's activities. If your agoraphobia is severe, you may not even be able to leave your home. Without treatment, some people become housebound for years. If this happens to you, you may not be able to visit with family and friends, go to school or work, run errands, or take part in other routine daily activities. You may become dependent on others for help.

Agoraphobia also can lead to:

  • Depression.
  • Alcohol or drug misuse.
  • Suicidal thoughts and behavior.

Prevention

There's no sure way to prevent agoraphobia. But anxiety tends to increase the more you avoid situations that you fear. If you start to have mild fears about going places that are safe, try to practice going to those places over and over again. This can help you feel more comfortable in those places. If this is too hard to do on your own, ask a family member or friend to go with you, or seek professional help.

If you experience anxiety going places or have panic attacks, get treatment as soon as possible. Get help early to keep symptoms from getting worse. Anxiety, like many other mental health conditions, can be harder to treat if you wait.

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Fear of Crowds and How to Manage It

Enochlophobia refers to a fear of crowds. It’s closely related to agoraphobia (a fear of places or situations) and ochlophobia (a fear of mob-like crowds).

But enochlophobia has more to do with the perceived dangers posed by large gatherings of people you might encounter in your daily life. It also includes the fear of getting stuck, lost, or harmed in a crowd.

This fear falls under the umbrella of phobias, which are defined as irrational fears that may cause severe anxiety. In fact, the National Institute of Mental Health estimates that about 12.5 percent of Americans will experience phobias at some point during their lifetime.

If you have a fear of crowds, you might find certain situations challenging, especially if you live or work in a highly populated area. Although there’s no official medical diagnosis for enochlophobia, some methods of therapy can help you overcome your fears. Other treatments can assist with the related symptoms.

Phobias like enochlophobia can lead to intense fear over events unlikely to take place. Even though you might realize that such an intense fear of crowds isn’t rational, it doesn’t lessen the real anxiety that can occur as a result of your phobia.

If you have enochlophobia, you might experience intense anxiety whenever you encounter a crowd of people. Your fear might not be limited to typically crowded events, such as festivals, sports games, or theme parks.

You might also experience a fear of crowds you could encounter on a daily basis, including:

  • on a bus, subway, or other form of public transportation
  • at movie theaters
  • at grocery stores or shopping malls
  • at outdoor parks
  • at beaches or public swimming pools

It’s not only direct contact with crowds that can trigger enochlophobia. In some cases, just thinking about being in a crowd might result in stress and anxiety.

Phobias like enochlophobia might also affect other areas of your life, such as work and school.

The symptoms of enochlophobia are similar to those of anxiety. They include:

  • increased heart rate
  • sweating
  • dizziness
  • shortness of breath
  • stomachache
  • diarrhea
  • crying

Over time, your fear of crowds may leave you feeling like you can’t participate in certain activities. This can cause further psychological symptoms, including depression, low self-esteem, and reduced self-confidence.

While the exact cause of enochlophobia isn’t known, it’s thought that phobias may be linked to anxiety disorders.

They may also be learned or hereditary. If one of your parents has a history of fearing crowds, then you might’ve picked up on their phobias as a child and eventually developed some of the same fears yourself.

Though a certain phobia may run in your family, you could also develop a different type of phobia from your parents and relatives. For example, one person might have agoraphobia or social phobia, while you might have enochlophobia.

Negative past experiences can also lead to a fear of crowds.

For example, if you once got injured in a crowd or lost in a large group of people, you might subconsciously think the same incident will happen again. Your mind will then tell you that you must avoid crowds to keep from encountering any danger.

What sets apart enochlophobia from a general dislike of crowds is that the fear can take over your daily life. As a result of your fear, you might practice avoidance, which means you alter your schedule and habits to make sure you don’t come across any crowds.

Avoidance can help you feel at ease because it keeps your phobia symptoms at bay. But it can put you at a disadvantage in the long term. It may lead you to skip important experiences or fun activities, and it could cause problems with family or friends.

Because enochlophobia can lead to intense fears, it could be a challenge to live with. You might especially struggle if you’re regularly exposed to crowds.

Avoidance could help, but relying on this practice all the time may make your phobia worse. Instead, you can turn to other methods that might help you better live with or even reduce your fear of crowds.

Mindfulness is one way you can try to ease your enochlophobia. Focus on being in the moment, so your mind doesn’t wander to what-if scenarios. Doing this can help you stay grounded and prevent irrational fears from cropping up.

If you do encounter a large crowd or plan on being in one, try to visualize yourself safe and confident in your surroundings. When possible, you might ask a friend or loved one to accompany you to a crowded event.

Reducing anxiety could also help you manage symptoms of enochlophobia. Everyday strategies include:

  • regular exercise
  • a healthy diet
  • enough sleep
  • adequate hydration
  • less caffeine
  • relaxation techniques, such as breathing exercises
  • time spent on activities you enjoy
  • social activities that involve small groups

Therapy is the primary form of treatment for enochlophobia. It may include a combination of talk therapy and desensitization techniques, such as the following:

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is a type of talk therapy that helps you work through your fears and learn how to replace irrational thinking habits with rational ones.
  • Exposure therapy. In this form of desensitization, you’re gradually exposed to crowds. Your therapist may even accompany you.
  • Virtual reality technology. This emerging form of exposure therapy may help you desensitize yourself to crowds without physically being in them.
  • Visual therapy. With visual therapy, you’re shown photos and images of crowds to help reshape your thinking before real-life exposure.
  • Group therapy. Group therapy can connect you with others who also deal with phobias.

Sometimes, a healthcare provider might prescribe medications to help ease anxiety symptoms you might experience with enochlophobia. Therapists can’t prescribe these. Possible medication options include antidepressants, beta-blockers, and sedatives.

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If you or a loved one has a fear of crowds, chances are you’re already fully aware of what type of phobia it is. Not all phobias require medical attention, but if your enochlophobia is severe enough to interfere with your daily life, it may be helpful to talk with a doctor.

Your primary care doctor is a good place to start. Depending on the intensity of your symptoms, your doctor might refer you to a psychiatrist or psychologist for further evaluation.

No medical test can diagnose enochlophobia. Instead, a mental health professional may have you fill out a questionnaire that lets you rate the frequency and severity of your symptoms. That person can also help you identify what triggers your fears so you can work through them.

Seeing a mental health professional takes courage — and the sooner you seek help, the better the outcome for your intense fear of crowds. You likely won’t overcome your fears overnight. But with continued therapy over weeks or months, you can learn to shift your current way of thinking.

A general dislike of crowds isn’t usually a cause for concern. But if you have an intense fear of them, you might have enochlophobia.

If this fear interferes with your daily routine and quality of life, it’s time to talk with your doctor and ask for some advice.

Therapy — and sometimes medications — can help you work through your fears so that one day you might be able to encounter a crowd with ease.

Treatment of demophobia and ocolophobia - phobias of a large number of people

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Anonymous. Demophobia, or fear of a large number of people, is an obsessive fear while being in a crowd. Often, such fear arises as a result of the consequences of a stressful situation once endured with a large crowd of people.

Phobia, the fear of a crowd of people, also has a separate concept - ochlophobia. In this case, a person sees a threat at the sight of a spontaneous uncontrolled crowd.

The main symptoms of the disease:

  • An obsessive fear of death surrounded by a large number of people;
  • Maximum isolation from others;
  • Disorientation in the crowd, panic attacks;
  • Breakdown;
  • Cardiopalmus.

The phobia of a large crowd of people does not allow a person to live a full life. If you do not start fighting it at an early stage, the disease will begin to progress, take away all vitality and adversely affect the health of the body.

The specialists of the Elizar-Med clinic practice effective proven methods of dealing with demophobia. Only a qualified psychiatrist or psychotherapist can provide real help to the patient.

If you have a similar problem, do not delay in solving it. Take the first step without leaving your home - just call the contact number at Elizar-Med and sign up for a consultation with a specialist.

Has the phobia of a large number of people touched your loved ones? Offer to take you to the doctor in a safe way. Do not leave them alone with your trouble.

This disease is treated with the help of psycho-correction sessions. The doctors of our clinic will find an approach to each patient and find out the cause of obsessive fears. Antidepressants will help to positively tune in to treatment, having a calming effect on the nervous system.

The doors of our clinic are open to everyone who needs help to restore psychological health and a comfortable life in society.

There are contraindications, you need to consult a specialist.

Reception schedule: Reception schedule: Reception schedule: Be sure to specify the reception time by phone: 8 908 905 8 335. If it turned out that the balance on your phone is empty and this prevents you from making an appointment or asking a question, just send the Beacon and we will definitely call you back!

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Demophobia, ochlophobia - fear of crowds: causes, symptoms, treatment

Contents:

Signs of demophobia
Causes of demophobia
Techniques for self-management of a panic attack of demophobia
Prevention of demophobia

The fear of crowds, depending on the nuances of perception, may refer to different types of phobias. The most commonly used terms are agoraphobia, demophobia, and ochlophobia.

Agoraphobia is the broadest term. It means fear of open space. As a special case, the fear of the crowd can also be related to agoraphobia, because often the crowd and a large open space are interconnected. But this is not a very accurate definition for a person who is afraid not of space itself, but of crowds of people.

Ochlophobia literally translates as "fear of the crowd" - that is, a large uncontrolled crowd of people. A panic attack can seize an ochlophobe in a stadium during a sports match, at a rally, in a city square filled with people, in a crowded subway car, etc.

Demophobia is often defined as a synonym for ochlophobia. But in general, the interpretations of experts differ. Some come from a literal translation (fear of the people) and believe that demophobia is the fear of leaders, politicians, public figures of the negative reaction of the people to some of their actions, public speaking, etc.

Others consider demophobia just a slightly broader concept. If the ohlophobe is afraid of the unorganized crowd, then the demophobe is afraid of any large number of people gathered in one place, even organized: at a concert, performance. Also, his fear may depend not so much on the number of people, but on how close they are to him.

Signs of demophobia

The fear of the crowd, if it is not irrational, exaggerated, panicky, is quite normal. The crowd is a real danger in the event of a general panic - you can be knocked down, physically harmed. In the crowd, they can quietly pull out a wallet or phone.

In addition, everyone has personal physical boundaries. This is the distance at which people unfamiliar to you should be. If it is reduced, it is quite natural to experience discomfort.

Demophobia aggravates all these emotional experiences to an uncontrollable state. There is real panic. The accumulation of unfamiliar people causes you:

  • palpitations, sweating, trembling hands and feet;

  • lack of coordination in space - you do not understand exactly where you are;

  • the predominance of emotions over sound thinking and prudence - you cannot pull yourself together, run wherever your eyes look, or, conversely, fall into a stupor;

The phobia is based on feelings of helplessness and lack of control over the situation, scrolling in the mind of imaginary dangers, or real ones, but the chance of which you greatly exaggerate.

Causes of demophobia

Panic fears of the crowd usually originate in childhood. Constant violations of the child's personal space lead to difficulties in the perception of people. This creates fertile ground for the development of various phobias associated with social interactions. If a child, teenager, or even an adult is later exposed to a traumatic crowd situation, they may develop a phobia.

Demophobia can also occur in victims during a stressful situation in a crowded environment: a terrorist attack in a public place, a stampede in a stadium, and so on.

In addition, fear of the crowd is often a concomitant symptom of other nervous disorders.

Techniques for self-management of a panic attack of demophobia

If you do find yourself surrounded by a crowd, there are a few tricks to help you deal with panic. Remember them.

The easiest, but not the most effective way, often chosen by people with a fear of crowds, is to simply avoid large crowds. This will stop the development of the phobia, but will not solve the problem. You need to see a psychologist.

Some, on the contrary, in order to get rid of the fear of the crowd, recommend demophobes to overcome their fears: first, get out to places where there are not too many people, gradually moving on to visiting restaurants, cafes, cinemas, etc. We would not recommend conducting such experiments on your own and without prior consultation with a specialist. If something goes wrong, you may accidentally get injured in a panic.

Professional treatment of crowd fear is usually complex and includes medication support and psychotherapeutic methods.

Medications are prescribed only for the relief of acute symptoms: panic attacks, high levels of anxiety. By themselves, psychotropic drugs do not cure, but only temporarily alleviate the condition so that you can lead a better life and better perceive therapy due to a calmer emotional background.

Psychotherapy can be used in a variety of ways. Which one is best for you is decided on a consultation with a specialist. It could be:

  • psychoanalysis - if the roots of the problem still need to be sought deep in childhood;

  • gestalt therapy;

  • behavioral therapy;

  • cognitive behavioral therapy;

  • hypnotic techniques;

  • NLP, etc.

For example, such an algorithm is quite often used: a psychotherapist asks the patient in detail about experiences, then during the sessions he models situations in which the patient experiences them, and teaches them to live them differently, monitor their reactions and manage emotions.

Prevention of demophobia

Since the fear of the crowd is most often formed either in childhood or in adulthood after traumatic events, there are two main ways of prevention:

  • parents - be sensitive to the emerging personality of the child, excluding all factors that may contribute to the development of problems of social adaptation, problems in communicating with other children;