Examples That May Cause An Agoraphobic Person To Panic- When they are in a place where they feel they can not leave, and are stuck in that situation. i.e.: being in a grocery line up, to pay for their items, but once someone else is behind them with their cart, the agoraphobic person may feel trapped, because they can not leave (without being afraid of making a spectacle out of themselves). Also for instance, if they are able to go to a hair Salon, they may be alright, till the shampoo person adds the shampoo to their hair, they then feel trapped and how would they really get out of that situation, without looking or feeling silly?

One of the unknown factors of panic attacks, is how severe and how long they may be when they hit. In some cases they can be mild (if you can call it that) and last a few minutes. In more severe cases, they can and will hit at full force and last for several hours (1 - 24), and that unfortunately was my case and can still be. Along with panic attacks, in some cases (I would say most) may come depression also.

The person may be so overcome with the thought of another panic attack (when will the next one hit, where, and how long will it last and how severe will it be?) then become depressed and filled with the utmost fear at most times. Almost a slight obsession with it since they are a horrible thing to experience. It is still not fully understood, why panic attacks happen. It could be from alot of stressful events in their pasts, or present circumstances. Sometimes even the slightest stress can trigger them, or for no apparent reason they can strike. Much more research is being done in this field, and we do here more and more studies on Panic Attacks and Agoraphobia, even from well known Actors, and famous people.

The Homebound (Housebound) Agoraphobic- The person becomes so fearful and terrified, that it actually, totally debilitates them, and prevents them from leaving their home for anything. (This was my case also). The severe Agoraphobic may be housebound for months or even several years. It may also leave a person bedridden (which once again was my situation) and leave them totally frightened, and in a state of  a constant panic attack, that never seems to end. The slightest noise such as a phone, the doorbell, hearing someone come home, can set it off. (Now I am not sure how many cases there are of this or how extreme, I am putting alot of things down here, that happened to myself). It can leave you totally paralyzed and useless. It can even be a nightmare to get up to shower. This is a horrible disorder, illness if you wish.

Depression- A sense of doom and hopelessness, feeling very sad or blue, extremely emotional and tearful, no energy, alot of sleeping or just laying down, no desire to do things the person once enjoyed, loss of self-confidence, mood swings, crying uncontrollably, extremely sensitive to the slightest negative comment, worthlessness, feeling ashamed, no sleep, loss of appetite, weight gain or loss, wanting to be alone most of the time, anger, irrational thoughts (including suicide), slashing (alot of times due to all the pain inside and trying to bring the pain to the outside, so you concentrate on that pain instead of the pain inside), loss of sexual drive or less interested in it.

The depressed person can be happy one minute, and quite sad the next, but it is not as severe as Manic Depression. Many times the person feels that he or she must wear a happy face (a mask so to speak), to please everyone else, and try not to show their sadness or unhappiness. Even to this day, alot of people, feel Depression is something not to be spoken about or told to others, that you have it. Alot of people still categorize a depressed person as a psychotic or nutcase, but this is SO far off track. They are just as sane as anyone else, they just have a disorder, which has different moods and some problems may affect them differently. All cases, once again differ in severity of the symptoms and on the individual. ** Anyone who has been diagnosed with depression should avoid alcohol, as this is a major depressant itself.**