Panic Disorder Vs Agoraphobia Essay

Panic disorder and agoraphobia. Panic disorder does not commonly occur as a singular mental illness on an individual’s life, but agoraphobia is extremely rare to not co-occur with another behavioral health disorder.15 Typically, agoraphobia is comorbid with panic disorder due to an individual’s avoidance of panic attacks. Patients diagnosed with panic disorder with agoraphobia are more likely to have frequent hypomanic episodes and recurrent incidences of social phobia than individuals with only one of the disorders.16 Panic disorder with agoraphobia also presents more sensitivity to anxiety and distressing circumstances, a more severe panic disorder, and neuroticism. In comparison to panic disorder without agoraphobia, the presence of the two disorders increased risks of suicide. Individuals with co-occurring agoraphobia and panic disorder are more likely to report trait anxiety, or the tendency to experience constant fear

Individuals with either panic disorder or agoraphobia have a high correlation with the existence of current or past manic episodes.16 Co-occurring manic episodes may allow individuals with panic disorder or agoraphobia a period of relief from their constant worry due to the mood’s euphoric effects. Surprisingly, patients with these two disorders often meet the criteria of anorexia nervosa as well.16 The most frequent lifetime mood disorders to co-occur with agoraphobia and/or panic disorder are bipolar disorder type I, dysthymia, and major depressive disorder.15,17 Other significant comorbid anxiety disorders are social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and specific phobias.15 The addition of more coexistent mental health disorders further complicates an individual’s symptoms and necessitates the need for treatment. Of course, behavioral healthcare professionals may discover that multiple co-occurring disorders are more difficult to treat than one single