Although it’s a mental issue, the physical symptoms of agoraphobia are all too real. The stress of the situation can cause heart racing, sweating, extreme stress, raised blood pressure, trembling, shaking, breathing problems, nausea, diarrhea, chest pains, problems swallowing, faintness, dizziness, a hot flash or cold chills, and an extreme fear of dying.

To be clinically diagnosed with agoraphobia, one must suffer symptoms for six months or more. It is usually part of another mental disorder, such as panic disorder or can be tied to a specific phobia, such as flying. An estimated 1.8 million American adults older than 18 have agoraphobia, which usually arrives in the 20s and in most cases before age 35. That amounts to less than 1 percent of the population, and the disease is mostly found in women as opposed to men. But agoraphobics are found in every race, sex, religion and region of the country.

An agoraphobic attack is usually manifested by extreme dread of a situation that may or may not occur but seems all too possible in the agoraphobic’s mind. When driving over a bridge, the agoraphobic may fear collapse. In public transportation, the agoraphobic fears there may be an accident. In simple social situations, the agoraphobic may feel that people will judge them or otherwise embarrass them, even if there is no such history of these confrontations. In short, it’s a life filled with a vision that things will go horribly, terribly wrong, trapping the agoraphobic in an unwanted and potentially deadly situation.

Developing this disorder can ruin someone’s life.  People with agoraphobia typically create a so-called “zone of safety,” usually their own neighborhood or home. Anything outside of the perimeter of this zone creates growing anxiety and sometimes outright panic. That means school and most employment outside of homeschooling and online work is out of the question.