Agoraphobia has come to be accepted as one of those complex mental conditions whose direct cause is hard to trace.
Most of the information that's available about causes has been collated from similarities between sufferers.
Here are some of the signs that scientists agree are shared between many sufferers: 1.
   A highly sensitive nature People who suffer agoraphobia seem to have an inborn temperament that's highly sensitive.
Many of us are born highly sensitive, but the environment and our upbringing hardens us a little so that we are not so susceptible.
In people with agoraphobia, sensitivity is high, especially to other people.
They are extremely shy and avoid interaction.
They are also highly irritable and will take offense at the slightest things.
They don't take easily to change or new things and react by withdrawing.
Children who have parents with these characteristics seem to adopt these traits.
2.
   Respiratory Illnesses Most people with respiratory diseases like asthma will tend to avoid crowded places because that's where they are more likely to get an attack.
The severity of the illness may cause someone to avoid people more and more, to the point where they want to get away altogether.
3.
   Traumatic Childhood Events Many agoraphobic people will give a history of separation from someone that they depended on a lot, they loved a lot and who took care of them, usually a caretaker or a parent.
It seems that in some people, agoraphobia is a result of unresolved separation anxiety.
Death of a loved one and unresolved grief for these people will lead to seclusion and fear of the public even when they are grown up.
4.
   Learned Behavior Children who grow up in a home where they frequently watched an agoraphobic person have a higher chance of becoming agoraphobic.
They realize as they grow older that when they are in an open or crowded place, they start to feel like getting away.
They start to avoid public places so that they avoid the response the places provoke.
Therapists say that this kind of leaned behavior can be unlearned by confronting the specific scary situation.
Symptoms of Agoraphobia When one is having an episode, they will experience the following:

1. Dizziness - the ground seems to move like it cannot hold them any more.
   
2. Nausea - It may be as a result of the dizziness, but they feel like they want to vomit.
   
3. Sweating, palpitations and trembling - this is a typical intense fear reaction.
   
4. They have a sense that something terrible is going to happen, when in actuality there is no immediate or present danger.
   

The symptoms will cease once the person has left the threatening situation and has returned home.
Treatment You require a professional to treat agoraphobia.
It's considered one of the more serious panic disorders and because of this, only professional intervention is recommended.