Fear of Shopping - Agoraphobia
Aye, it truly does exist. I wish I could give it to the Missus.Fear of shopping grabs me every year at about this time.
And like most medical occurrences there is a five dollar word for it – it’s called “agoraphobia”. Sure, and just when I thought it was safe to go back in the malls again !9
There are the usual problems with parking, with pushy little old ladies with razor sharp elbows at the bargain table, and with irritating salespersons. It’s too bad that pepper spray can’t be used as a shopping convenience. There be times like this when I hates shopping with a passion.
However the thought of being in a crowded shopping center all alone -- possibly where it would be difficult to get away in a hurry-- is enough to create full-fledged panic attacks in some gentle souls at any old time.
This fear is about as bad as fear of being caught in the middle of a battle. In fact, the first official diagnostic criteria for this disorder were listed by a physician studying soldiers during the American Civil War. The word agoraphobia means “ fear of malls”. “Phobia” means fear, and “agoro” comes from the Greek word for “marketplace”. So agoraphobia is quite literally “ fear of the marketplace”.
For those of you who are having trouble visualizing the problem, imagine that you have a bad case of diarrhea. Then drink five cups of coffee. Then you are transported (without warning) into the middle of the West Edmonton Mall, during Dollar-Forty-Nine-Day, wearing only your underwear.
People are blocking your way in every direction, you are a mile from the nearest exit, and you have no idea where the washrooms are. And someone has changed all the signs into Chinese only. It’s enough to scare the **** out of anyone! It is little wonder that some people have a fear of losing control in malls.
Typical symptoms are sweaty hands, a racing heart, hyperventilation, and a feeling that your entire brain is just about to snap like a rubber band. Acute anxiety builds up, along with the feeling that you are not going to be able to keep it under control.
Some phrase it more delicately as “ not feeling at home”, or “not having a sense of security”. Some patients are not only afraid to go out in the malls, they are afraid to even leave their homes. (Unless in the company of friends or family, which makes them feel slightly more secure.)
One of the most famous writers of all time put it this way. “ How I wish I could accept your invitation and pay you a visit; but I have long found it impossible to visit anywhere; the novelty and the excitement would annihilate me.”
Before developing this affliction this same man cheerfully spend the years from 1831 to 1836 climbing mountains, surviving natural disasters, and sailing all over the world in a tiny sailboat called the Beagle. ( Some folks even say he went “where beagles fear to tread” .) And he did all this just to pursue his curiosity about the numerous different types of finches in the world.
This interest in finches led this author to develop what he called the “theory of evolution”. Yet at the age of 28, about two years after returning from all his journeys, Charles Darwin developed severe agoraphobia.
For the rest of his life he almost never left his home, and when he did it had to be in the company of his wife Emma. He refused lecture tours and chances to do further research with his colleagues.
Darwin became a typical prisoner of panic.
Your brain and shop ophobia
The exact cause of agoraphobia and other panic disorders is not precisely known. A part of the brain known as the “locus ceruleus” may release abnormal amounts of certain brain chemicals. These chemicals have sometimes been called “panicogens”.
Several types of drugs, including caffeine and some diet pills, can trigger panic attacks. We know that people often develop panic attacks in the months following higher than normal numbers of stressful life events, particularly divorce. Until the correct diagnosis is made patients are quite often afraid that they are going crazy.
The treatment of fear of shopping is a combination of therapeutic boredom and medication. Boredom is induced by psychological conditioning. If a rapid heart rate seems to trigger the panic attack, then the patients heart is sped up repeatedly until he just starts ignoring it.
If a patient is afraid to go into a mall, but only slightly anxious standing in the parking lot, then he stands in the parking lot until completely bored. Then he takes a few steps towards the mall, just to get the anxiety level up a bit. Then he stands there until completely bored, and so on, until he can go power shopping without having a panic attack.
Cause of fear of shopping.
The exact cause of agoraphobia and other panic disorders is not precisely known. A part of the brain known as the “locus ceruleus” may release abnormal amounts of certain brain chemicals. These chemicals have sometimes been called “panicogens”.
Several types of drugs, including caffeine and some diet pills, can trigger panic attacks. We know that people often develop panic attacks in the months following higher than normal numbers of stressful life events, particularly divorce. Until the correct diagnosis is made patients are quite often afraid that they are going crazy.
The treatment of fear of shopping is a combination of therapeutic boredom and medication. Boredom is induced by psychological conditioning. If a rapid heart rate seems to trigger the panic attack, then the patients heart is sped up repeatedly until he just starts ignoring it.
If a patient is afraid to go into a mall, but only slightly anxious standing in the parking lot, then he stands in the parking lot until completely bored. Then he takes a few steps towards the mall, just to get the anxiety level up a bit. Then he stands there until completely bored, and so on, until he can go power shopping without having a panic attack.
Treatment of Fear of Shopping
The weather in B.C. makes this process unlikely to be widely successful, so medication is also helpful. There are a wide variety of useful drugs for panic disorders, but it may take a bit of trial-and-error experimentation to find the perfect combination for a particular patient.
Through a combination of psychotherapy and medication almost all patients with fear of malls can be helped. They can then shop to their hearts content without any fear or anxiety at all.
Except during the Christmas season, when not having fear and anxiety in a mall is a sure sign of mental illness. During this yearly shopping orgy my prescription is to stay home with a good book. Like the mail order catalog !
Dr. Patrick Nesbitt practices family medicine in Maple Ridge.