Agoraphobia Is Scary

This is a blog post for my second Action Project for my core class Disease. This class is about diseases, both physical and mental diseases. We have been studying different diseases and a couple main ones we have been looking at are Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We also learned about the DSM-V. The DSM-V is a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. So it shows you all about the mental illnesses in the manual.

For this action project, I had to choose a disease from the DSM-V and study it. The disorder I chose was Agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is the abnormal and persistent fear of public places or open areas, especially those from which escape could be difficult or in which help might not be immediately accessible. My definition for it is the fear of crowded places without being able to find a way out. In the panic disorder/agoraphobia spectrum, several studies appear to converge on effects in the amygdala, Adenoid cystic carcinoma, insula, and lateral prefrontal cortex, but also for occipital brain areas a.k.a. the right side of the brain.

We were also tasked with creating a simulation of the mental illness for our classmates. Below is the video of my classmates reacting to my simulation and the slideshow I used in my presentation. there is also a flyer that I made for my disease to explain the disease more.

CJH. Agoraphobia Flier. 2020.

The topic of the Lesson: My disorder Agoraphobia.

Purpose of the Lesson: To give my peers empathy for my disorder

Minute	Activity	Students are...	Teacher is...	Dominant  Brainwave
1	A quick summary of my disorder	Listening to my summary.	Giving a quick summary of my disorder	Alpha
2	Introducing activity	Listening to my instructions.	Blindfolding a student and explaining to the rest of the class privately that they need to surround the blindfolded student and start gently pushing him around.	Beta
3	Activity	Surrounding the blindfolded person and pushing them around.	Watching to make sure no one gets hurt.	Beta
4	Explain the connections with activity and disorder	They sit back down and listen to how the activity relates to the disorder.	Calm them down and tell them about how the disorder relates to the activity.	Alpha
5	Go through slideshow	Listen to me talk about the disorder more.	Talk about the disorder while flipping through slides.	Alpha
6	Conclusion	Listen to me finish out the lesson quietly.	I end the lesson by asking the blindfolded student if he felt the effects of the disorder during the activity.	Alpha
7	Questions	They ask questions that I can answer relating to the disorder.	I ask if anyone has any questions and answer the ones people ask me.	Beta

Below is an example of Piecewise Functions.

CJH. Piecewise Function. 2020

In this project, I feel as if this disorder should be addressed more and also more people should learn about it. If you know someone with Agoraphobia, don't make them go somewhere that is packed with people. If you are at a packed place with someone who has Agoraphobia, ask them if they are okay every once and a while. If they are getting uncomfortable take them to a place in which they are comfortable. If you have Agoraphobia and you want to help yourself, start going to filled places and slowly you will get more and more comfortable with crowded spaces.