Agoraphobia Definitions and Symptoms

Agoraphobia Symptoms - Part 3: Safe People and Places

To cope with the fear, people with agoraphobia commonly establish "safe" people and places.

Safe people are people with whom a person with agoraphobia is highly familiar and feels emotionally close. Safe people are usually parents, spouses, children, or close friends or relatives.

In the company of a safe person, most people with agoraphobia can travel further away from home and are more willing to enter feared places and situations. People with agoraphobia feel safer around a safe person because they perceive them as a source of help in the case of a panic attack or sudden emergency.

People with agoraphobia typically act as if the safe person possesses abnormal powers to stop a panic attack or save them from perceived dangers. In reality, safe people offer the person with agoraphobia emotional security rather than any real safety.

In the same way that people with agoraphobia develop safe people, they also develop safe places. These are places in which the person with agoraphobia feels psychologically comfortable. The most common safe place for someone with agoraphobia is his or her own home. Other common safe places are the homes of safe people, therapists' offices, and other established refuges where the person with agoraphobia can feel a sense of comfort.

Some people with agoraphobia are able to establish more safe places than others. While some may feel safe in a number of places, others are confined to their homes or certain rooms in their homes. In extreme cases, people with agoraphobia become confined mostly to their beds.