Agoraphobia is one of the main reasons I suffer from IBS.

It is often triggered by the thought of having a panic attack in a crowded and/or public place from which there is no easy or immediate means of escape.

This can cause sufferers to avoid anywhere where people may be gathered, or to plan their trips, shopping, etc to allow for an easy escape route. In the most severe cases, a person may become housebound, afraid to leave their 'safe place'.I have experienced both and still live with the former. The symptoms of agoraphobia and the panic they can induce are the same as any panic attack, although, in the case of a person suffering agoraphobia, these are triggered by being in a place with many people, a crowd, perhaps even a queue in a shop.

Speaking for myself, there is always a sense of disassociation, noises become louder and echo, people become strange, faceless entities, springing up and pressing in, like a growth of pale mushrooms, there is only the sense of the enclosure and being trapped. The heart rate increases dramatically, one feels dizzy, nauseous, there can be shooting pains in the chest, arms or head. There is an instant adrenaline rush since you want to run.

I did used to run away, dodging through people without seeing them, until I found a place where there were none, a restroom or alley, a car park, perhaps. I once had to run into a pub for a drink, which I could hardly get down, as I was shaking and ring an annoyed father to pick me up. At other times I would order a taxi if I could.


After those experiences, if I had to go to a public place, for instance, the shopping center, I would only go with my mother, and ask her for the car keys, so I could bolt back to the car and sit in it, if I wished. That gave me a sense of control and knowing I had somewhere to escape to allowed me to move from the car, into the shops and come back when I wished.

The causes are many and varied, and the early trigger may never truly be known. I believe mine grew from hating to be in a town, where something (unrelated) had happened to me and gradually became a fear of the people in the town.

All I know is that it is rooted in childhood, and I began to experience agoraphobia in my early teenage years, in school classrooms and buses. The cause will be different with each person.

Some GP's may prescribe low dose tranquillizers, or anti-depressants.

I myself have suffered so badly that I would not leave the house, however, I am better than I was, although being in crowded places can still bring on an attack, and journeys in trains, or aeroplanes are not something I can yet consider.

Considering the severity of my agoraphobia in earlier years, I am not housebound to the degree I once was, which I consider several steps forward.

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