Healing Severe Generalized Anxiety and Agoraphobia Through Dual-Diagnosis Treatment
For someone who suffers more than one mental health disorder at once, dual-diagnosis treatment can help them to untangle their symptoms and develop a range of effective coping strategies. For disorders such as severe generalized anxiety and agoraphobia, a residential treatment center provides an ideal healing environment because therapy for long-term recovery takes time and dedicated care.
Agoraphobia is a widely misunderstood disorder. It is often simplified as a fear of going outside or leaving the safety of one’s home. You may have heard it described as a fear of wide-open spaces. But as researchers and clinicians have had more experience with it, they’ve begun to understand it more completely as people with agoraphobia really live it. Agoraphobia actually manifests as a fear of fear itself.
It isn’t so much the particular places or situations that people with agoraphobia fear. They fear their own reactions and panics—especially if they anticipate that there will be no way out of their distress. So, they might fear an experience at home just as much as they might fear an experience out in public or anywhere else if the conditions are such that they won’t have an escape from their own panic.
When severe anxiety and agoraphobia occur at the same time in a person, their own mind can become the very situation from which they have no escape. They bring their fears and the potential for panic everywhere they go or don’t go. And, from within that trap of inevitable fear, they can feel entirely helpless and hopeless to experience any relief. But, as complicated as this combination of symptoms can be, there is hope for relief. Long-term dual-diagnosis treatment was developed to manage the complex co-occurrence of disorders such as these.
How Does Dual-Diagnosis Treatment Work?
It’s very common for agoraphobia and other anxiety disorders to occur at the same time. This means that symptoms can occur simultaneously and will very likely aggravate each other. A person’s condition can be significantly intensified, and they are in even more urgent need of compassionate clinical care.
A dual diagnosis can be determined by a psychiatrist or other experienced clinician. In fact, it’s very often the case that multiple mental health disorders are occurring at the same time. They may be mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, or personality disorders, among others.
Some treatment strategies will focus on only one disorder at a time—for example, a substance addiction first and then an anxiety disorder second, only after the addiction is under control. But this approach isn’t always effective because the anxiety probably influences the substance abuse a great deal. As long as the anxiety persists, it’s unlikely that the substance use disorder can be truly manageable.
A dual-diagnosis treatment approach, on the other hand, aims to treat all co-occurring disorders at once and to uncover the symptom interactions that make a client’s experiences even more distressing. In the case of agoraphobia and severe generalized anxiety disorder, both respond very effectively to psychotherapy and medication. However, therapy strategies can be specifically geared to untangle the thoughts and feelings that stem from each disorder and complicate each other. As clinicians and clients harness positive coping strategies, they are anticipating the challenges to come in everyday life from generalized anxiety and agoraphobia.
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619-466-0547What Does a Long-Term Treatment Center Offer for Co-Occurring Severe Anxiety and Agoraphobia?
For anxiety disorders, truly effective treatment takes time. It is not just about treating the symptoms; it is largely about managing the thoughts, fears, reactions, and actions that spring from the anxiety—and that often aggravate it, creating a dangerous snowball effect for even greater distress. A therapist is able to guide a client toward a clearer perspective of how their anxiety is affecting them—and how they are affecting and amplifying their anxiety, in turn. However, this is not a process intended to provoke feelings of shame. On the contrary, this clearer perspective is empowering for an individual suffering from anxiety because it deflates some of the power from the anxiety right from the start.
When someone enters into a residential treatment environment for their GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) and agoraphobia, they have a unique opportunity to gain clarity and positive coping skills during any given experience or activity throughout the day. As they are separated from their typical triggers and sources of stress, they can more fully devote themselves and engage with their healing treatment. While it can be overwhelming to manage life at the same time as early recovery, in a residential program, meals and other basic necessities are taken care of.
As we have discussed, agoraphobia is a unique disorder, and it requires very compassionate and knowledgeable care. In the context of a long-term residential treatment center, a client will gradually recognize this environment as a safe and supportive space. There is no need to rush the therapeutic progress; in fact, even taking the time to develop a relationship with the treatment center, therapists, and peers in recovery is important progress.
Ultimately, the goal is to help someone be less fearful of their anxiety and their panic because less fear will mean less anxiety and fewer attacks. Cognitive behavioral therapy and other proven therapeutic approaches can help individuals to evolve their relationship to the fear and worry. But it takes time. In a long-term facility for dual-diagnosis treatment, they have the time. And there is nothing more important than prioritizing their mental health and their positive future.
If you’re concerned about a loved one and believe they may need residential care, we can help. BrightQuest offers long-term treatment for people struggling with complex mental health illnesses and co-occurring disorders. Contact us to learn more about our renowned program and how we can help you or your loved one start the journey toward recovery.
