Agoraphobia is a Greek word meaning open space and fear. Agoraphobia refers to intense anxiety/fear about being in certain places or situations. This may be due to the thought of not being able to escape these places or situation without difficulty or embarrassment. The unavailability of help is another concern. Often, these feared places are avoided in attempts to eliminate the anxiety felt. Females are two times more likely than males to experience this disorder, and about 2% of either adolescence or adults will have this experience in a given year. Genetics also play a significant role by being the causing factor 61% of the time. This is often triggered by stressful life events (Halter, 2018, p. 277).
Symptoms
Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder. Typical symptoms include fear of leaving home alone, crowds, waiting in line, enclosed spaces, open spaces, or using public transportation. Scary situations may include movie theaters, elevators, malls, buses, planes, or trains. In some cases, a person may feel so much fear that they are unable to leave their own home. Sometimes it is helpful for a support person such as a friend or family member to accompany them to public places. This kind of fear is out of proportion to any actual danger of the situation. This phobia can usually last for about six months or longer (Mayo Clinic, 2017).
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Complications
This disease can effect a person’s life drastically. In severe cases these patients can’t even leave their own home. This could lead to isolation from friends and family, not attending school or work, not being able to run errands, and overall decreases normal daily activities. In severe cases this could lead to depression, alcohol and drug abuse, and other mental health disorders such as personality or additional anxiety disorders (Mayo Clinic, 2018).
Treatment
The common treatment for agoraphobia is a combination of medication and cognitive behavioral treatment also known as CBT. These therapies could be used individually, but studies suggest this combination of treatments has the best and longest lasting results. Medications are supposed to reduce the feelings of fear along with anxiety, but it is only temporary. The most common medication used is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor also known as SSRI’s. These are a type of antidepressants, although, they have to be taken for weeks to be effective. The permanent treatment is CBT, because this treatment changes pathways in the brain to eliminate the feeling of fear. CBT is usually needed for 12 to 20 weeks when combined with medication to be effective. Without combination with medication CBT may have to be continued for about a year in order to be effective. CBT therapists help patients recognize what thoughts cause them to experience anxiety, in result, the therapist will teach patients how to react differently to those thoughts. In a typical session the therapist will encourage the patient to imagine a stressful situation, and then together they will work through the patient’s feelings. In the later weeks of therapy, the therapist will take the patient through a real life situation that is particularly stressful to them (Cleveland Clinic, 2015).
Conclusion
Agoraphobia causes avoidance behaviors which can be extremely life restricting. When signs and symptoms of this disorder start to interfere with normal activities of daily living then it is time to seek treatment. Without treatment this disorder could lead to other health concerns such as depression, alcohol and drug abuse, and other mental health disorders. The most effective treatment is a combination of medications and cognitive behavioral therapy. With therapy this disorder can be managed and overcome
References
- Cleveland Clinic. (2015, May 8). Agoraphobia Management and Treatment. Retrieved November 17, 2018, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15769-agoraphobia/management-and-treatment
- Halter, M. J. (2018).Varcarolis foundations of psychiatric-mental health nursing: A clinical approach(8th ed.).
- St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. Mayo Clinic. (2017, November 18). Agoraphobia. Retrieved November 17, 2018, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/agoraphobia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355987
About Women In American Revolution
In our well-developed, better-than-ever society, we are still fighting for women’s rights and equality between genders. Waiting for a police officer or a neurologist to arrive, we are usually surprised when we see a woman approaching. While reading an article about the death toll in the Syrian Civil War, we easily assume all late soldiers were males. Does this approach differ from the one that was two hundred and fifty years ago? The role of women was crucial during the colonial revolt leading to the independence of the United States. The need for human force made all people equal and essential to succeed and gain autonomy. Starting with their active participation on the frontier, through the artistic expressions of their feelings, and their comforting presence. The Revolutionary War forced women to change; previously, they were considered weaker than men, and like their mother Eve, dangerously prone to sin. However, during the War, they were the ones with the power to turn our young men, not merely with empty words but also with deeds and truth, into Republicans. From the Revolutionary War to the time of reforms following the Spanish-American War, women served unofficially with the military. This situation changed in the years preceding World War I, when American War leaders finally recognized that military women were not just a poor substitute for men, but a talented reserve of capable and highly motivated individuals. However, even after the Revolution, women were not considered full citizens.
Nevertheless, they were always present in the world of the army. At the end of the American Revolution in 1783, more than 20,000 women provided support, sustenance, or active service for the military. The first woman to officially be a part of America’s armed forces was Deborah Sampson. However, this was only partially true because the Army wouldn’t have easily enlisted her if she was a woman. Deborah needed to become a man; she practiced for months, changing her way of walking, speaking, and acting. On May 20, 1782, posing as a “smock-faced” boy with a handmade uniform that hid her female figure, she joined Washington’s hard-pressed Continental Army. She participated in several battles for eighteen months, but during a battle near Tarrytown, she got injured. While being hospitalized in Philadelphia, her doctor revealed her gender to a commanding officer, who had no idea how to handle the situation. Deborah was sent to Washington’s headquarters with the explanatory letter, where she was advised to give up soldiering. A few years after her discharge from the army at West Point, George Washington invited her to the nation’s capital, where Congress officially recognized her as a Revolutionary War heroine. However, the rejection of Deborah Sampson didn’t discourage other women from helping and being a part of the American Revolution.
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Their situation on the frontier was harder and required more endurance than anyone could expect. First of all, very little or even no provision was prepared for them. The lack of food forced the army to provide nourishment only to the essential units. Furthermore, their appearance relied mostly on their husband-soldiers. Madame de Riedesel was a well-known loyalist camp-follower who traveled with her husband during the war. Lastly, they were granted very few concessions, including usage of baggage wagons as a means of transport. Even though women faced many various difficulties on their way to prove their importance on the frontier, they never gave up and became the foundation of the overall success. As George Washington once remarked, without the army’s women, many more men would have deserted. Not everyone was able to actively help at the battlefield, and without help from the outside, soldiers wouldn’t have survived long. Winter was especially challenging for troops stationed in barracks. Albigence Waldo, the surgeon at Valley Forge, described in his diary the winter of 1777. On December 21, he wrote about a universal Thanksgiving dinner in the soldiers’ camp – “Gentlemen, the supper is ready.” “What is your supper, lads?” “Fire Cake and Water, Sir.” During that bleak, harsh winter, the army ran out of food supplies. Finally, several large wagons filled with foodstuffs arrived at Valley Forge; however, there was no one to distribute it. Ten women from the nearby village decided to help; they had braved the elements and poor roads to deliver tons of precious supplies to the beleaguered army. They not only delivered it to the frontier but also helped stem the tide of desertions by cooking, chopping firewood, building shelters, and nursing wounded or ill men back to health. In the villages, the absence of males pushed women to take men’s responsibilities. Wives successfully coped with many new challenges that occurred when their husbands were gone. They managed farms, became politically involved, assembled munitions, and, on occasion, helped to defend their families against Indian raids.
In Burke County, North Carolina, during the defense against Indians, the soldiers’ gunpowder was nearly exhausted. The group was saved by one of the women, who possessed a good supply of the needed powder and decided to distribute it among the soldiers. Carrying the gunpowder in her apron, she went to each man and poured a small quantity into his upturned hat. The soldiers were able to sustain fire long enough to dissuade the Indians from pressing the attack. Women held the army together. Women were the heart of the army. A number of females, some say a hundred, some say more, besieged Thomas Boylston’s shop, demanding the keys to his warehouse, which was a storage of his overpriced coffee. The reaction of one of the women was unpredictable when Thomas refused to distribute the coffee without charges, she seized him by the neck, and tossed him into the cart. They opened the warehouse, hoisted out the coffee themselves, put it into trucks and drove off. With delight, she concluded, a large concourse of men stood amazed, silent spectators of the whole transaction. This situation was described by Abigail Adams in her letter from June 31, 1777, to her husband, showing women’s need to fight for nearly everything. Neither writing nor speaking could be their way to express their feelings.
They weren’t allowed to publish during the American Revolution because it was against the rules. A woman was a private being; by publishing broadsides or essays, she became unfeminine and immoral. Most of the pieces published by females, all under the pseudonym “a woman,” were repressed in the name of patriotism and freedom. The first exception was probably the earliest American novel written in the form of a letter: “The History of Maria Kittle” by Ann Eliza Bleecker. In the letter written on December 15, 1777, to Miss Tenn Eyck, she expressed her devastating grief and loss caused by the death of her daughter. Despite the stamina and strength demonstrated by many American women in surviving the harrowing and often bloody events of the war with Britain, the feminine ideal was different. Women from the middle and upper classes met the requirement to be delicate, modest, and non-assertive. Rebecca Frank described her social life during winter 1778 in a letter to her friend Nancy Harrison Paca, emphasizing her clothing style. Elaborating on the details of hoops and feathers, she enclosed “six gauze handkerchiefs, two small pieces of gauze, and two sets of colored ribbons.” However, in doing this, she flaunted or ignored the fact that women chose to wear homespun fabrics as a patriotic gesture during the Revolution. John Adams outlined his idea of a woman in a letter to his wife on November 4, 1775, comparing her to Mrs. Hancock. Abigail was sometimes “too saucy,” while Dorothy was all he could ask for: “modest, decent… Her behavior is easy and genteel. She avoids talking about politics. In large and mixed companies, she is totally silent- as a lady ought to be.”
However, most of them did not try to stick to the norms. Forming groups such as the Daughters of Liberty, women exerted considerable economic influence by boycotting British goods. They refused to buy tea or woolen goods and spun material for shirts and sheets on their own. Sarah Bache, Benjamin Franklin’s daughter, showed him 2200 military shirts that had been sewn by the women of Philadelphia, as reported by the Marquis de Chastellux. As Abigail Adams once told her husband, “Remember the ladies,” we should keep in mind that women were a fundament of society during the Revolutionary War. Their outstanding commitment at the frontier, willingness to make the lives of others easier, and heart-warming appearance contributed to the United States gaining independence. Even though the circumstances were adverse, women were always ready to help, and their impact is undeniable. However, the question is, how did the revolution influence women? Was the Revolution truly revolutionary, or was it just a regime change?
