Takashi Ookami
And whats the difference between this/Agorophobia and AntiSocial disorder?
is very serious. It is a psychiatric condition characterized by chronic behavior, often illegal, that manipulates and violates other people. To be diagnosed with this, the person has to show that similar behavior is a pattern dating all of the way back into childhood. These people were often cruel to animals in childhood and their teens. They are also often fire-setters. These people are often diagnosed with conduct disorder as a child. They have no guilt, they lie, cheat, steal, do not care about the safety of other living things, and often abuse drugs.
Agoraphobia is a fear. "Phobia" means fear, so anytime you see a word with that attached to the end, you know it is the fear of something. Agoraphobia is the fear of being in crowds or of being outside alone. People with agoraphobia often have panic disorder as well or other severe phobias. The fear is often so bad that the person literally never leaves their house and cannot go to work. It is seen in more women than men and often surfaces when the person is in their 20's. Therapy can be used to treat it.
Agoraphobia is not to be confused with
introversion. Roughly 25% of people would be called introverts. Introverts are people who need to be alone at least a few hours a day. They prefer quiet. If other people are around, they usually prefer it to be just a close friend or two with quite discussion. They tend to avoid large parties. People often misunderstand them and try to drag them out into large social gatherings and then wonder why they are uncomfortable, nervous, or rude. Introversion is not a mental disorder of any kind, however. It is a personality type. The other 75% of the population are extroverts. These are people who do not like being alone. They feel sluggish, bored, and drained when alone, but energized in a group or large party, while introverts are the exact opposite.
I am an introvert. It sounds like our original poster is too. Now, there's nothing wrong with that. Like I said, it's just a personality type. It isn't a personality disorder or anything like that. It sounds like she might be right on the line between being an extreme introvert and showing some agoraphobia. I am actually exactly like her, but I don't say that I have agoraphobia since I am still able to do things like hold a job or go to the mall with someone. So it has not really interfered with my life or given me problems in any way. She'll have to decide if it is interfering with her life. Agoraphobia can be improved with therapy, but introversion is usually forever, so she'll probably never be too different than she is now. Therapy might help her to relax a little so that she does not have such severe physical reactions though.
Reply
