Anxiety disorders are fairly common in young people. Many parents start noticing symptoms in their children during their adolescent and teen years. Intense discomfort or fear in certain situations, emotional outbursts, and refusal to go to school or do certain activities can all be symptoms of anxiety.
There are several different anxiety disorders that affect teens — for instance, well-known conditions like social anxiety and separation anxiety. Agoraphobia is a type of severe anxiety that can look like these other conditions. It’s closely related to panic disorder. However, agoraphobia can exist independently of panic disorder. Panic attacks are not required for an agoraphobia diagnosis, although fear of having panic-like symptoms can contribute to agoraphobic avoidance.
It’s never easy to watch your child struggle with anxiety. It can be hard to know how to respond or when to reach out for help. It’s a good idea to start looking for a therapist if your teen is feeling significant emotional distress on a regular basis. If agoraphobia symptoms are keeping them from functioning as usual, a more comprehensive treatment program may help them build up their resilience and learn some healthy ways to cope with their fears.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss the symptoms of agoraphobia, how they may present in teens, and how your teen can get diagnosed and treated for agoraphobia.
How do agoraphobia symptoms present in teens?
Teens with agoraphobia feel intense fear or panic in certain places or situations outside the home. The fear is usually linked to the remote possibility of something terrible happening, especially if they don’t have a clear escape route or a way to get help. If they’ve had panic attacks, sometimes they’re afraid of it happening again. Teens will first go to great lengths to avoid their fear, whether it’s public transportation, crowds, enclosed spaces or something else. As the condition progresses, they may not want to leave the house. There are effective treatments that can help teens at this stage of agoraphobia. However, you shouldn’t wait until your teen gets to this point to seek help.
How does a person get diagnosed with agoraphobia?
To be diagnosed with agoraphobia, a person must have intense, disproportionate fear in at least two different types of situations, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR). The symptoms must cause significant distress and impairment, lasting at least six months. However, significant distress and impairment are key factors, even if the duration is shorter. Your teen doesn’t need an official diagnosis of agoraphobia to start getting treatment for their anxiety. If another medical condition, such as withdrawal from a substance, can better explain the symptoms, they may not receive this diagnosis.
The five specific situations listed in the DSM-5-TR include:
- Using transportation such as cars, buses or trains
- Being in open spaces like parking lots or busy downtown areas
- Being in enclosed spaces like a department store or an office with few doors
- Standing in lines or crowds
- Being outside of the home alone
What treatments can help teens with agoraphobia?
The most basic type of psychotherapy that helps teens with agoraphobia is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In this treatment, a therapist helps the client identify and understand their thoughts and feelings. Then they find alternative ways to approach triggering situations and manage distress. Exposure therapy is a specific type of CBT. It’s more focused on building a tolerance for these situations and practicing coping skills.
Most teens with agoraphobia benefit from a combination of psychotherapy and medication. These treatments are provided at different levels of outpatient or Residential Treatment, with sessions lasting from a couple of hours to full days. After completing a comprehensive treatment program, teens with agoraphobia should continue to see an outpatient therapist and a psychiatrist.
Teens with agoraphobia symptoms may benefit from the following levels of treatment, depending on the symptoms and their severity.
- Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) — PHPs typically include five full days of treatment per week. At Lightfully, we provide Safe & Sound Emotion Regulation sessions, group therapy and family therapy sessions in addition to individual therapy.
- Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) — IOP sessions are usually three to six hours long, and teens attend up to five days per week. These programs combine several types of treatment, including individual, group and family therapy.
- Residential Treatment (RTC) — Residential Treatment Centers provide full days of treatment and nursing care at night. They include the same treatments as PHPs, and at Lightfully, we integrate opportunities for yoga and movement.
Find help for your teen with agoraphobia symptoms at Lightfully
Agoraphobia symptoms like anxiety and panic cause teens so much distress that it can get in the way of their daily routine. They may not be able to focus on schoolwork, and they may miss important milestones like dances or graduation ceremonies. If your teen is struggling with intense anxiety, you can support them by staying calm, listening without judgment, being honest with them and helping them find the right treatment program.
At Lightfully, we treat each of our clients as a unique individual first. We recognize that a person’s diagnosis is only one part of the bigger picture. Standard approaches don’t work the same way for everyone, and the human relationships between clients and their care providers are an important part of the treatment process. Our Precision Care Model (PCM) ensures that each person we work with gets a treatment plan that’s tailored to their goals and their needs.
Are you looking for solutions to your teen’s agoraphobia symptoms? Contact us or reach out to our Admissions Concierge Team to schedule an assessment. Let’s talk about what’s going on and explore your treatment options together.