I’ve learned from Wiki that agoraphobia is not the fear of open places per se, but simply the fear of being in a place that is out of your control. Is this accurate, and if so, what IS the term for being afraid of an open area?
I’ve always heard of agoraphobia being “fear of open places”, and the very name would seem to suggest this (the agora being an open market in a Greek city-state, IIRC). That would suggest to me that fear of being in a place you can’t control would require some different, multi-barreled Greek name. U
Unless someone’s just too lazy to change the names on all the papers written about agoraphobia that accept a newer definition. Or something.
I’ve always heard of agoraphobia being “fear of open places”, and the very name would seem to suggest this (the agora being an open market in a Greek city-state, IIRC). That would suggest to me that fear of being in a place you can’t control would require some different, multi-barreled Greek name. U
Unless someone’s just too lazy to change the names on all the papers written about agoraphobia that accept a newer definition. Or something.
what’s the word for fear of double-posting? 
The OED defines “agoraphobia” by way of this quote: “1873 Jrnl. Mental Sc. XIX. 456 Dr. C. Westphal has an article on Agoraphobia; by this he means the fear of squares or open places.”
Mr. Webster says that it is the “abnormal fear of being helpless in an embarrassing or unescapable situation that is characterized especially by the avoidance of open or public places.”
I wouldn’t know – I don’t have that particular phobia.
Agoraphobia is often triggered by anxiety attacks.
The peerson sufferes an anxiety attack in a public place and has an overwhelming desire to leave. Once they are somewhere private, the panic becomes manageable and they don’t have to worry about other people adn their reactions.
Eventually it gets to a point where walking outside the front door becomes enough to trigger panic and anxiety.
In those circumstances, the agoraphobia is about being in control of the situation, and open spaces cause anxiety…not fear.
I’m not actually sure if there is a condition which would cause you to FEAR open spaces, the way that I fear enclosed spaces, or my friend fears mice…
Agoraphobia isn’t normally used (at least nowadays) to refer to people affraid of open places, but to people subject to severe panick attacks in places from where they can’t “escape” easily to take refuge in a place assumed to be safe (generally their home).
These places can be a public place (a crowded street, for instance) or an open space (an isolated place long away from home, for instance) but equally if not more often a closed space (a train, a movie theater…). It varies depending on the individuals, and in the most severe cases, the only place that doesn’t trigger such panick attacks can become one’s own home.
Agoraphobia is normally not related to a concern about other people’s reactions.
Agoraphobic people can of course feel concerned about what other people will think of their behavior, but it’s not related to their condition, nor the cause of their anxiety, but at the contrary a consequence of displaying an irrationnal and difficult to explain behavior, like anybody else in a similar situation (say, someone suffering from an OCD).
Aren’t there people who are literally afraid of open spaces - feeling they’ll fall into the sky, for example? All the examples mentioned here are really fear of being “outside” meaning a public place, or fear of crowds or whatever.