The Effect of Agoraphobia on Personality in Children - Essay Example

The Effect of Agoraphobia on Personality in Children Agoraphobia is typically a highly incapacitating disorder that is characterized with fear of ‘open spaces.’ This disorder affects a substantial percentage of people in a given population. Normally, the Agoraphobia disorder begins with spontaneous attacks of panic, followed by a development of an anticipatory avoidance and anxiety behavior (Ruiter & Ijzendoorn, 1992). Typically, agoraphobic fear takes place in places such as public transportation, supermarkets, restaurants, and other closed places. When in these places, patients suffering from the condition of agoraphobic fear tend to feel safe when accompanied with a person they know. In severe instances, agoraphobic people may develop a kind of fear that would make them almost homebound (Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, 2009). Such agoraphobic places or situations are avoided because of the bodily sensations that instill some fear into an individual. It is therefore not surprising that it is very common for other daily activities that cause such interoceptive sensations are also avoided by these agoraphobic people. This kind of avoidance of social places is what is referred to as ‘agoraphobia,’ which a severe anxiety of being in a situation or place from which it might be difficult to escape or in which it might be very difficult to get help if an attack occurs. Though a number of scientific studies indicate that biological and psychological mechanisms could be the causes of agoraphobic disorder, the proper etiology of this condition is still not known. This paper will highlight the effect of agoraphobia on the personality in children. Agoraphobia disorder can have a serious impact on the personality of the children to an extent of no reversal. The main aspect of personality that is affected by this condition is the ability to avoid fear while away from home or from far from familiar people. Children with this condition will develop panic attacks in a process that will lead restrict their movement to places (Stevens, 2006). Gradually, these kinds of children will start developing excuses for not going to those places. In most cases, these children will start playing at home without any big problem but will always look for excuses for not going. A common reason given by the agoraphobic children for not going is that their stomach is hurting or they simply do not want to go. According to prospective studies, agoraphobia disorder is associated with causing the affected children to develop an anxious ambivalent behavior. As observed by Ruiter & Ijzendoorn (1992), these children with agoraphobia disorder typically function less well during their toddler and preschool years. Further, Ruiter & Ijzendoorn (1992) reveals that anxious ambivalent children are significantly less confident, assertive and have very poor social skills as compared to the securely attached children. These children are also rated as being more nervous and hyperactive than the securely attached children. Agoraphobic and school is another aspect where the personality of children is highly affected. When it comes to waking up, the children suffering from agoraphobia will always awaken during school days with very serious abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, or many other symptoms of physical illness, which will vanish soon, they learn that they are not going to school. The reason for all these symptoms is their anxiety, which does not allow them to go to school. The result of this anxiety is the battle between the parent the child or perhaps the teacher. Parents would always struggle to encourage these kids to go to school but it always proves difficult due to the extra-fear these kids show when left alone. Being afraid to board buses is another area of personality that the children suffer when they have agoraphobia. This fear tends to stem from the notion that something embarrassing might happen in the bus. Parents of such children are forced to drive their children to school (Chandler n.d). Developing a kind of anxiety of not going to school is another aspect where children are affected. The idea going and seating in school does not bode well with agoraphobic children. Even after successfully going to school, some children may get overwhelmed by anxiety to a point of demanding to get out of school as soon as possible. Wanting to go out of school is one area where these agoraphobic children come into conflict with their teachers, who would always associate this behavior with indiscipline. It has been discovered that agoraphobia and panic attacks go in tandem with each other. Chandler (n.d) observes that children with these conditions have their personality affected in the following ways: These children always become nervous wherever their parents have gone away and left them alone. Examples of this impact is seen when a child begins to panic wherever he she realizes that the parent is about to leave him or her alone. Another impact of agoraphobia and panic attack on the personality of a children is reflecting on something worse is going to happen to their parents. For instance, a child might make sure that he or she has stayed close to the parents to ensure that nothing worse happens to them. It could be visiting the parents frequently at bed to ensure they are there or they are alive. At times, the child might be tempted to call almost every relative because the mother or father is few minutes late at home. For a relatively bigger child, he or she could avoid school to take care of the sick mother or father. Worrying about the possibility of being kidnapped is a feature exhibited by agoraphobia children. These children will keep on checking for their parents to ensure that they have not been kidnapped away. Children with the disorder of agoraphobia cannot sometimes sleep alone. In this scenario, it is very easy to find an older child still sleeping with the parents instead of spending on a separate bed (Chandler, n.d). Alternatively, if the parents become strict, this child would ask to sleep in the room that is very close to the parent’s bedroom. In other circumstances, children suffering from agoraphobia syndrome would typically suffer from constant nightmares about being separated. The common nightmares exhibited by these agoraphobia children is having frequent dreams featuring his her parents being involved in car accidents, house-burning, or perhaps the parents drowning in the river. Nevertheless, there is still hope for these children to get over these personality effects brought about by agoraphobia disorder. There exist a myriad of techniques used to treat the effects of agoraphobic condition (Chandler, n.d). These techniques include behavioral modifications, relaxation techniques, cognitive therapy and medical treatments. For behavioral technique, the affected children are expected to gradually expose themselves to the things that make them panic. Gradually, these children will get used to these places and would stop associating them with fear. The children can be made to breath in and out as a mechanism of relaxing. Relaxation exercise should be made a routine for children, and with time, they will start doing it alone. Cognitive method is mostly used for teenagers and adults because it requires some level of knowledge. Finally, agoraphobia children can be injected with some medications that will make them overcome the anxiety to panic when faced with some situations. Conclusively, agoraphobia is a condition that can affect people of all ages, including adults and young children. For the young children, agoraphobia condition is associated with a drastic alteration of the personality trait. As observed in the paper, this condition commonly attacks the personality of children, making them to develop a myriad of behaviors that are not common to what is expected of them. With treatment techniques, the personality of these children can be restored. References Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. (2009).Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia. Retrieved 27th April 2015, from, https://www.ranzcp.org/Files/Resources/Publications/CPG/Australian_Versions/AUS_Panic_disorder-pdf.aspx Chandler, J. (n.d). Anxiety disorders in Children and Adolescents. Retrieved 27th April 2015, from, http://www.jameschandlermd.com/anxiety/anxiety_disorder.pdf Ruiter, C.D., and Ijzendoorn, M. H.V.(1992). Agoraphobia and Anxious-Ambivalent Attachment: An Integrative Review. Journal of Anxiety Ksorders, Vol. 6, pp. 365-381, 1992. Retrieved 27th April 2015, from https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/1454/168_120.pdf?sequence=1 Stevens, H.H. (2006). Agoraphobia. In J. E. Fisher & W. T. O’Donohue (Eds.), Practitioner’s Guide to evidence-based psychotherapy. New York: Springer. Read More