Agoraphobia is the word to describe a fear of places or situations from which escape might be difficult, or that help might not be available.

This might include supermarkets, public transport, crowds, open spaces, enclosed spaced or being home alone.  Often this results in these places being avoided by the person, as they believe something bad will happen and they will not be able to get help. People experiencing agoraphobia can sometimes also experience panic attacks when they go to these places or are in these situations; or they avoid situations for fear of the panic like symptoms occurring again. 

Usually the best treatment options for this difficulty are based around increasing your knowledge of the problem, having a better understanding of your thinking, and making some changes to your behaviour.  The evidence suggested cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is usually the most effective treatment.  We have a number of interventions that use CBT to help people overcome this problem including SilverCloud online CBT, the Stress and Mood Management course, and some of our one-to-one CBT-based interventions.