Agoraphobia - Nothing Is Terrible Except Fear Itself

Constant panic attacks become 'panic disorder' and, as the sufferer knows, they can strike at any time and in any situation. Because they usually happen away from the safety of the home, the term agoraphobia' was used in the past to signify fear of open spaces

The Greeks had the correct definition - agora the market lace or place of assembly, and phobos, terror or flight. They understood the panic-stricken need to escape from a situation - wherever it was, indoors or outside - when the feelings of ear became overwhelming.

Those who have not experienced this problem naturally find it difficult to comprehend the extent of the Offering it causes. It is a condition that defies easy description, for these days the word 'agoraphobia' is used as a collective term for a number of unpleasant sensations which can, if allowed, wreck the life of the sufferer, but which appear to bear little relation to the original definition: fear of open spaces. Fear is there, certainly, but fear of what? Not of the great outdoors, the shopping centre, the motorway - but fear of the terrifying irrational feeling of anxiety escalating to panic which for no apparent reason can overwhelm the victim. One person may well experience these feelings in a shopping centre, another in an open field, another on a bus or in church. Yet another sufferer may be affected in each one of these situations, but what we have to understand is that it is not the 'place of assembly' - the theatre or the supermarket - that is the object of the phobia; these become places to be avoided because they are the settings associated with the fear.

When panic strikes, the overwhelming need is to escape. If you are out in the open you must get under cover; if you are in a confined space you look round for an exit. You must get away from the people milling about you, must escape from the noise, the silence, the bright lights, the darkness. There are so many things to dread and all of them contradict each other. No wonder the sufferer is confused when told that agoraphobia is the problem when she feels just as panic-stricken in a lift or hemmed in by a crowd. Isn't this claustrophobia?

The definitions of the two states may appear to be con¬tradictory, but agoraphobia and claustrophobia both apply to a state of anxiety which manifests itself in certain situations, causing feelings of terror and a need to escape from and avoid these situations.

Trapped! Inside or out, the feelings are the same. Agora¬phobia may begin when a panic attack strikes in a specific situation. The situation itself becomes the focus of the fear as the subject expects a repetition of the original panic attack and, anticipating it, involuntarily triggers it off.



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