Agoraphobia - Treatment

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• Agoraphobia: Outcome studies
• Agoraphobia: Treatment protocols
• Agoraphobia: Treatment considerations
• Agoraphobia: Evidenced based treatment
• Agoraphobia: Theory based treatment
• Agoraphobia: Team working considerations
• Agoraphobia: Followup
• Agoraphobia: Non-psychological treatment

Treatments

Agoraphobia can be successfully treated in many cases through a very gradual process of graduated exposure therapy combined with cognitive therapy and sometimes anti-anxiety or antidepressant medications. Treatment options for agoraphobia and panic disorder are similar.

Exposure treatment can provide lasting relief to the majority of patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia. Disappearance of residual and subclinical agoraphobic avoidance, and not simply of panic attacks, should be the aim of exposure therapy.

Anti-anxiety medications include benzodiazepines such as alprazolam. Anti-depressant medications which are used to treat anxiety disorders are mainly in the SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) class such as sertraline, paroxetine and fluoxetine. Hypnosis is a possible alternative treatment. ^{[How to reference and link to summary or text]}

Treatment options for agoraphobia and panic disorder are similar.