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Fire Escape Partners
3465 25th Street, Suite 17
San Francisco, CA 94110 | (noun)
[ag'-ahr-ah-FOE-bee-ah] 
1. an irrational fear of open or public spaces: "We knew our neighborhood could be rough, but we had no idea our son was being affected until he began exhibiting signs of agoraphobia."
additional noun form: agoraphobiac
adjective and noun form: agoraphobic
Origin:
Approximately 1873; coined by German psychiatrist Carl Westphal as German, 'Agoraphobie'; formed from Greek, 'agora': marketplace, which is related to the root 'ger-': to gather + 'phobia': fear. In action:
"I went to therapy. I went to the doctor. I had an abortion. Twenty minutes before my appointment, the phone rang. A faraway sister. She wanted me to reconsider. How did she know? He had tracked her down. He, who had never met my family, who spoke to my sister just once before, had contacted her. He knew that everyone in my family is adamantly pro-life. This was a low blow. I took it as a message that he would do what he could to maintain a presence in my life.
I found a new neighborhood, a new apartment, a new school. More therapy. I was diagnosed as clinically depressed and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. I hardly left the house -- borderline agoraphobia induced by fear. Anti-depressants only fed my insomnia."
Spike Gillespie. "Life of restraint: I have a restraining order on my ex. But he has a grip on my life." Salon.com (October 25, 1999).
"Every day for the past 63 years, those four words have paid her a haunting visit. They lie down with her every evening. They wake with her each morning: 'Ten minutes -- one suitcase!'
'That's what the Nazis yelled when they knocked on our door in Poland,' Helena E. said. 'That's how much time they gave us to leave our home, and that one suitcase, that's how much of our lives we were allowed to take with us.'
'I was one of 10 cousins from a wealthy family back in Poland,' said Helena, who after a life of persecution and pain did not want her full name to appear in print. 'And after the Nazis declared open season on us, I was the only one who made it out alive. It was just unfair.'
...Living in a small Manhattan apartment with her cat, Pickles, Helena is battling depression and agoraphobia, a fear of open or public places. Since January, she said, she has left her home just four times. Her only links to the outside world are an old computer, which she uses mostly to pay bills and keep up with current affairs, and a telephone, which she uses mostly to chat with her psychiatrist.
...Life was not always this bleak for Helena, an educated woman who never married. She had long careers in advertising and market research, taught for eight years at the college level, got involved in community politics, and earned a master's degree in sociology. 'I was even pretty once,' she said, flashing a smile that vanished before she blinked.
Four years ago, when a business that Helena had started began to fail, so too did her mental, physical and financial health. Unable to pay the rent and other bills, she filed for bankruptcy, and soon became depressed. She could not afford necessary cataract operations or medical treatment for swollen legs, and when she suffered a massive pulmonary embolism in 1999, she was so tired of a life gone wrong, she did not even bother dialing 911. She was discovered only after a social worker, unable to reach her by phone, finally visited her home a few hours later.
'I think a great many Holocaust people just fall apart,' Helena said. 'We were young once and strong, but at some point, it all empties out.'"
Vincent M. Mallozzi. "At 72, Still Seeking Refuge From a World of Pain," The New York Times (November 12, 2002).
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