Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology

Unexpected impact of agoraphobia on family life: county type agoraphobia

Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology 2014; 24: Supplement S103-S103
Read: 713 Published: 18 February 2021

Agoraphobia (AG) is defined as having feelings of anxiety and fear related to be at places or in conditions, which escape from may not be available. Comorbid situations such as anxiety disorders or major depressive disorders (MDD) with agoraphobia might be more difficult in terms of treatment period and quality of life. A case of AG with MDD will be presented. A 50-year-old male living in a small county in Erzurum/Turkey with AG was examined at home. Twenty years ago, he had suddenly experienced şushing, dizziness, a feeling of weakness and feeling like going to die while he was driving to the city center and therefore, he went back home. After that day, he had never gone anywhere outside of his county for 20 years. A couple of years ago, symptoms such as reluctance, inability to enjoy life, feeling worthless and loss of concentration were added to his symptoms. Hence, he had used citalopram 20 mg/day for 2-3 months 2 years ago, on the advice of a psychiatrist. His symptoms decreased but after he stopped using that medication, his symptoms increased again. Also, he didn’t allow his son to work in downtown and his daughter to continue high school. He didn’t want his family to be anywhere except the county. He explained this situation that he thought that bad things could happen to his family members. Furthermore, restlessness, palpitation, difficulty in breathing and anxiety were occurred when any one of the family members were not at home. For the last 3-4 months, some complaints such as reluctance, inability to get pleasure from anything, insomnia and loss of appetite arose. On psychiatric examination; he was conscious, oriented and his cooperation was şuent and understandable. He was anxious and thought content was related to anxiety. His thought speed was normal, anhedonia was detected and there were no hallucinations and delusions. The diagnosis was compatible with AG comorbid MDD according to DSM-V. Mirtazapine 30 mg/day, Alprazolam 2 mg/day (only for first week) were initiated and treatment was reinforced with cognitive behavioral therapeutic approach. He was evaluated biweekly with Penn State Worry Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory. The significant response has occurred at the end of the 4th week of the treatment in these scales. At the 5th week of the treatment his son returned to work and daughter started back to her school. Patients with AG such as our case may complicate their life and their family members’ lives. Treatment of these patients improve quality of life of themselves as well their family members.

EISSN 2475-0581