The Washington herald., 1906-12-23

T-,. srlvest and most authoritative
medical magazine in the world, the Lon
5o, Lancet. describes a disease which 10
most pe5nls will seem strange and new,
at which many VIII smile. but which
many people viii recognize, feeling some
of the symptoms in themselves.
The name Of this disease is agoraphobia.
This word is derived from the Greek and
means terror of open spaces. IT - de
scribed 10y DIR. Charles Mercier. fellow Of
The ROYAL College of Physicians, and ply
stefan for mental diseases at Charing
Cross Hospital
Agoraorobia is the antithesis of more
common disease called clausuophobia,
which is horror of anything but open
spsces. Both diseases are well known to
physicians
They are analogous to the almost uni
vcrsal dread experienced by persons on
looking down from high places, even when
there is a strong parapet or iron railing
which, reason assures them, viii prevent
them from falling. Their popularity is
that the sufferer recognizes his fears to
be irrational and absurd, but is utterly
unable TO overcome them.
Agoraphobia is thus described by DIT,
MERCER:
.cThe craving Of the subject of this
maladv is to be near to some tall vertical
structure. Away from such a structure
he has Just the feeling of dread, Of i'm
pending danger. of imminent disaster, Of
something dreadful about to happen. that
a man would have who was walking
through a jungle infested by tigers or
that a child has when alone in the dark.
have seen a woman affected with
agroaphobia get from one side Of a court
10 the other by not only going around
by the wall and touching it all the way.
but squeezing herself up against 1t and
clutching at the bare surface. Sufferers
from this malady cannot cross an open
space. They cannot venture more than a
step or two from some vertical surface.
They feel no uneasiness in a cOlOnuade.
omen all around them though il De. Their
reason tells them that their dread is
groundless. but reason IS powerless
against instinct and an imperioUs instinct
shouts Danger" in their ears
Traced TO Our Ancestors.
Or. MERCER traces the disease back 70
the habits of Our arboreaI ancestors. 90
who took refuge among the trees from the
wild beasts that prowled among the open
spaces
He saws both maladies are inveterate;
they do not yield to treatment; they en-
dure for years and often for a lifetime.
He says he knows Of only case Of agora-
phobia that was cured. and the treatment
of this was so extraordinary that il cam
not be adopted as a specific.
The one case I'm which a cure was ef-
fected is described by DR.. MERCER as that
of tall spare man who complained OF
being nervous and run down, unable 10
concentrate his mind on his work and
feeling as If some great evil were inn
pending,
In addition to these troubles" says
the doctor. che had very definite agora-
phobia In going 10 and from his office
he would sneak through all the alleys
courts lanes. and narrow streets he could
make use Of When he came on a wide
street he was seized with panic-reasou.
less. groundlesS. He felt as if something
awful were going TO happen. He could
not walk along a wide street; he had "a
.ake bus or if the street were not very
wide he might get through it by holding
on 70 a cart. ii he did not do this he was
sure he would fan down. He was afraid
he would scream out and make a scene
Bridges were quite impossible TO him. II
he were compelled 10 so over a bridge he
had 10 set into a bus some time before ne
came 10 It and keep his eyes shut as ht
went over IT,
Under ordinary remedies he improved
very muct, so that at the end of a week
be had the best night he had had FOL
wears. He gradually recovered his power: