Your Ultimate Health Guide

Agoraphobia is a word associated with phobia or the fear of something. It is often misconceived as fear of “open spaces”. Misconceived because in actual fact, it is not. Agoraphobia can be defined as fear for crowded places and spaces that may be associated with fear of the public (where there is no escape).

And contrary to what is popularly believed, agoraphobics are only afraid of crowded and confined spaces. They are certainly not afraid of open spaces such as houses of worships, shopping, traveling, being alone and social gatherings.

To prove the point further, the root terms of the word “agoraphobia” are agora, which means “marketplace” in Greek, and phobia, which means “fear”. Combining these two terms, we can say that it is the “fear of the marketplace” - which is not an open space but a crowded place. The word “agora” also has the earlier meaning of “a place where people gather”. Thus, the most accurate meaning of agoraphobia is a “fear of crowded places”.

People can start to experience agoraphobia when they consciously avoid busy places and places that may be linked with closed spaces. Sufferers may panic when overly stressed even when though the condition that starts the panic is not longer present. This will turn into a vicious cycle where the person will begin to experience panic disorders or states related to panicking. For some people, the fearful state will continue until the general feeling of fear diminishes.

In short, agoraphobia is both a severe anxiety disorder and a phobia. But more on this anxiety disorder condition in the next post…