The Relationship Between Agoraphobia and Social Anxiety

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat’s the Connection?Association With Panic Attacks and Panic DisorderHow They DifferComorbidityCoping

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

What’s the Connection?

Association With Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder

How They Differ

Comorbidity

Coping

It’s not too surprising thatagoraphobiaandsocial anxiety disorderare closely connected.When you’re afraid of going outside it makes sense it would include a fear of interacting with other humans.

Still, they aren’t the same thing and it’s important to understand the similarities and differences between the two as you seek diagnosis and treatment for your symptoms.

At a GlanceAgoraphobia and social anxiety disorder frequently occur together, and this is thought to occur more than half the time. When this happens, the symptoms appear to be more severe than if one of these conditions were present. Fortunately, treatments are available for both disorders, which can help to get to the base of the problem and restore a person’s life.

At a Glance

Agoraphobia and social anxiety disorder frequently occur together, and this is thought to occur more than half the time. When this happens, the symptoms appear to be more severe than if one of these conditions were present. Fortunately, treatments are available for both disorders, which can help to get to the base of the problem and restore a person’s life.

Agoraphobia and social anxiety are closely related conditions but have some important differences in the causes of the symptoms.

With agoraphobia, it is the fear of enclosed places, transportation, and leaving home that leads to isolation, but the primary fear is that escape may not be possible and/or the embarrassment of a panic attack. Agoraphobia isn’t exclusively anxiety about being around people.

In contrast, with social anxiety disorder, it is the exposure to people and the chance of being judged that leads to emotional and sometimes physical distress. Whereas a person with agoraphobia often welcomes a companion, this is not the case with social anxiety disorder.

So essentially, if you’re agoraphobic you probably have social anxiety disorder, but if you have social anxiety disorder you aren’t necessarily agoraphobic (maybe you just live in a small town without a ton of people!)

Agoraphobia is typically thought of as the fear of leaving your home. While it is true that manypeople with agoraphobia are housebound, agoraphobia actually refers to the fear of being in situations or places from which escape would be difficult or embarrassing in the event of a panic attack.In a sense, it can be thought of as having a fear of having a panic attack.

Agoraphobia usually leads to the avoidance of specific places such as crowds, automobiles, buses, trains, elevators, and bridges. In addition, people with agoraphobia may fear leaving the house alone. Most people with agoraphobia are better able to cope if in the company of a trusted companion.

Although agoraphobia can be diagnosed without panic disorder, over 95 percent of people diagnosed with agoraphobia also have a diagnosis of panic disorder.

Agoraphobia most often occurs in conjunction withpanic disorder. When agoraphobia is diagnosed without panic disorder, severe anxiety is experienced but not to the degree that it constitutes a panic attack.

Panic Attack Types and Symptoms

AgoraphobiaFear of leaving houseFear of having a panic attack in public placesFear of being in situations where escape might be difficult or that help wouldn’t be available if things go wrongFeel better with trusted companion

Fear of leaving house

Fear of having a panic attack in public places

Fear of being in situations where escape might be difficult or that help wouldn’t be available if things go wrong

Feel better with trusted companion

Fear of public places

Fear of being in a position of being negatively judged

Feel worse with trusted companion due to fear of scrutiny

When it is difficult to distinguish between the anxiety of agoraphobia and SAD, it may be that both diagnoses apply.

Results of an older National Comorbidity Survey conducted in the United States showed a correlation of .68 between diagnoses of agoraphobia and social anxiety disorder, meaning that the twodisorders occurred togetheraround 68 percent of the time. Morerecent studieshave found that majordepressionis often a comorbidity as well.

Some studies suggest that having both disorders together is more common in women than in men and that when both disorders are present, the course tends to be more severe.

Studies comparing the particular neurophysiological pathways in the brain with different anxiety disorders have found a close correlation between pathways in agoraphobia and social anxiety disorder, though these differ somewhat from those involved in other anxiety disorders such asobsessive-compulsive disorder.

There are effective treatments that can help withsymptoms of agoraphobiaand social anxiety disorder and there is considerable overlap.

Ways of managing agoraphobia andtreatments for social anxiety disordercan often help with the other condition as well, although treatments such as systemic desensitization and others are used primarily with agoraphobia.

This underlines the importance of an accurate diagnosis and the care of apsychotherapistwith whom you feel comfortable.

7 Disorders Related to Social Anxiety Disorder

5 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Gerez M, Suárez E, Serrano C, Castanedo L, Tello A.The crossroads of anxiety: distinct neurophysiological maps for different symptomatic groups.Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2016;12:159–175. doi:10.2147/NDT.S89651Ströhle A, Gensichen J, Domschke K.The diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders.Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2018;155(37):611–620. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2018.0611Koyuncu A, İnce E, Ertekin E, Tükel R.Comorbidity in social anxiety disorder: diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.Drugs Context. 2019;8:212573. doi:10.7573/dic.212573Magee WJ, Eaton WW, Wittchen HU, Mcgonagle KA, Kessler RC.Agoraphobia, simple phobia, and social phobia in the National Comorbidity Survey.Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1996;53(2):159-68. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1996.01830020077009Batinic B, Opacic G, Ignjatov T, Baldwin DS.Comorbidity and Suicidality in Patients Diagnosed with Panic Disorder/Agoraphobia and Major Depression.Psychiatr Danub. 2017;29(2):186-194. doi:10.24869/psyd.2017.186

5 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Gerez M, Suárez E, Serrano C, Castanedo L, Tello A.The crossroads of anxiety: distinct neurophysiological maps for different symptomatic groups.Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2016;12:159–175. doi:10.2147/NDT.S89651Ströhle A, Gensichen J, Domschke K.The diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders.Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2018;155(37):611–620. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2018.0611Koyuncu A, İnce E, Ertekin E, Tükel R.Comorbidity in social anxiety disorder: diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.Drugs Context. 2019;8:212573. doi:10.7573/dic.212573Magee WJ, Eaton WW, Wittchen HU, Mcgonagle KA, Kessler RC.Agoraphobia, simple phobia, and social phobia in the National Comorbidity Survey.Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1996;53(2):159-68. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1996.01830020077009Batinic B, Opacic G, Ignjatov T, Baldwin DS.Comorbidity and Suicidality in Patients Diagnosed with Panic Disorder/Agoraphobia and Major Depression.Psychiatr Danub. 2017;29(2):186-194. doi:10.24869/psyd.2017.186

Gerez M, Suárez E, Serrano C, Castanedo L, Tello A.The crossroads of anxiety: distinct neurophysiological maps for different symptomatic groups.Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2016;12:159–175. doi:10.2147/NDT.S89651Ströhle A, Gensichen J, Domschke K.The diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders.Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2018;155(37):611–620. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2018.0611Koyuncu A, İnce E, Ertekin E, Tükel R.Comorbidity in social anxiety disorder: diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.Drugs Context. 2019;8:212573. doi:10.7573/dic.212573Magee WJ, Eaton WW, Wittchen HU, Mcgonagle KA, Kessler RC.Agoraphobia, simple phobia, and social phobia in the National Comorbidity Survey.Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1996;53(2):159-68. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1996.01830020077009Batinic B, Opacic G, Ignjatov T, Baldwin DS.Comorbidity and Suicidality in Patients Diagnosed with Panic Disorder/Agoraphobia and Major Depression.Psychiatr Danub. 2017;29(2):186-194. doi:10.24869/psyd.2017.186

Ströhle A, Gensichen J, Domschke K.The diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders.Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2018;155(37):611–620. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2018.0611

Koyuncu A, İnce E, Ertekin E, Tükel R.Comorbidity in social anxiety disorder: diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.Drugs Context. 2019;8:212573. doi:10.7573/dic.212573

Magee WJ, Eaton WW, Wittchen HU, Mcgonagle KA, Kessler RC.Agoraphobia, simple phobia, and social phobia in the National Comorbidity Survey.Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1996;53(2):159-68. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1996.01830020077009

Batinic B, Opacic G, Ignjatov T, Baldwin DS.Comorbidity and Suicidality in Patients Diagnosed with Panic Disorder/Agoraphobia and Major Depression.Psychiatr Danub. 2017;29(2):186-194. doi:10.24869/psyd.2017.186

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