3. Fear
The main issue a person with agoraphobia suffers from is simply fear. When they are out in public and experience a panic attack, they do not typically understand the cause of it. Since they do not understand what caused it they then become fearful that it will happen again. The natural reaction to this fear is to avoid people, locations, and situations that remind them of the experience.
Unfortunately, this fear creates a tailspin effect as the reminders create more fear. For example, if the experience occurred at the grocery store near their home, the person may avoid that grocery store for a long time. The longer that they avoid going to that store, the more fear of that particular store builds up. This can cause further panic and anxiety. The best thing to do in this type of situation is to go back to the grocery store and stop avoiding it.
