What is Agoraphobic Cognition Scale
The Agoraphobic Cognition Scale (ACS) is a new scale that psychologists are using to measure the cognitive distortions that people with agoraphobia experience. The purpose of this new scale is to help psychologists better understand how these distortions contribute to the development and maintenance of agoraphobia, so they can work toward more effective treatment options.
The Agoraphobic Cognition Scale (ACS), a self-report scale for assessing avoidance of fear, was psychometrically tested. Agoraphobic patients showed greater fear of physical impairment and fear of losing control than depressive patients who were socially phobic, generally nervous, and non-anxious.
Why do we use agoraphobic cognition scale?
The agoraphobic cognition scale is to measure the level of anxiety that an individual may experience in specific situations. Cognitive changes during agoraphobia can be assessed by incorporating these questions into a clinical evaluation tool; based on the answers, clinicians are able to evaluate if cognitive difficulties are present and how severe these difficulties may be (for example, transient “lapses” or enduring stressors).
Agoraphobic Cognition Scale; It is applied to people with agoraphobia or panic disorder with agoraphobia. The reliability of this method has been proven by many scientific studies around the world.
Guideline: As you can see below there are some thoughts and ideas you may think of when you’re worried or scared. Please mark each thought that occurs in such situations using the scale:
Agoraphobia is the fear of being in situations where escape might be difficult or embarrassing. It can also mean a fear of open spaces, but this is not always the case. The symptoms are varied and may include trembling, breathing difficulties, increased heartbeat rate, nausea and dizziness. These symptoms usually begin to show up when an individual is faced with a situation that they associate with panic attacks from their past experience. Agoraphobia can often interfere with everyday life because sufferers limit themselves so much due to their fear.
Agoraphobic Cognition Scale
The agoraphobic cognition scale is a 14-question self-report scale that enables us to evaluate the catastrophic thoughts associated with the fear-over-fear hypothesis. It was developed in 1984 by Chambless et al. 175 patients with panic attacks accompanied by agoraphobia were enrolled in a therapy program, and during exposure to anxiety-causing situations, their thoughts are evaluated. The scale was developed in line with the information obtained from both patients and therapists.
Last Updated on December 3, 2021 by William Lindberg