Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1907-03-27
TWO QUEER DISEASES
The Fear of Space and the Fear
OF Shut-in Places.
BOTH EQUALLY INvETERATE.
They Are Refractory to Remedies,
They Are RecaIcitrsnt to Treatment,
ard They Endure For Years and
Often For n Whole Lifetime.

IS not nearly as common q malady as
Its antithesis, claustrophobia Cfear of
shut-in places. Both are curious and
somewhat anomalous states of mind. I'm
which an aversion. known and admit
ted by the subjects OF IL to be irration-
nj and absurd, nevertheless dominates
conduct, prompts the execution OF IRA
tionai acts and renders certain rational
and desirable acts impossible.
In had TO speculate on the origin OF
these curious and spurious instincts,
Tor such they may be termed. I should
assign them to the revival OF instincts
which existed I'm full force and had
great biological value In our remote
ancestry. but which In most OF us
have long been obsolete. When our
ancestors We're -arboreal in habit. this
habit was their salvation from exiting
ton. Feeble In body. destitute OF weaD-
ons and of defensive arinor. devoid OF
means OF concealment. their safety
from carnivorous foes lay In the agii-
ity with which they could climb out OF
reach and in the accuracy with which
they could leap from bough to bou.,h
and from tree to tree. Whenever they
descended to the ground they were in
danger. II Is on the ground that the
greater carnivora pursue their prey,
and, adapted as our ancestors were TO
arboreal life. their progress on oDen
ground was less rapid than among the
tree tops and most probably less rapid
than that OF their principal foes
Among the tree tops they were secure.
There no enemy could vie with them
in activity or hope to ovortake them.
but on the ground they were Mt a dis
advantage. On the fat they had no
chance against the spring OF the pan
Their or the speed and wind OF the
wolf, but once let them attain the Sc
curity of the forest and they could grin
ut their enemies below The farther
they ventured from their secure retreat
the greater the peril they were In; the
nearer their refuge the more completes
their sense of security. Since instincts.
using the term I'm the sense of mental
cravings. become adapted TO modes OF
life, which In turn they dictate. we
may he sure that I'm the nrboreal stage
OF their existence aversion existed TO
any extended excursion from their
places OF security and refuge. Near TO
trees they were in safety: far from
trees they were In continual danger
and therefore I'm continual uneasIness.
in such n situation they had an abid-
ing and well founded dread and sense
OF impending danger
This Is the state OF mind which. as it
seems 20 me. is reproduced I'm similar
circumstances in agoraphobia. The
craving OF the subject OF this malady
Is 10 he near, not trees necessarily. IL
Is true, but near TO some tall. vertical
structure. Away from such a struc-
ture he has just the feeling OF dread.
OF impending danger. OF imminent dis
aster. OF something dreadful about to
happen that man would have who
was walking through n jungle infested
by tigers or that child has when
alone in the dark. / have seen n wo-
man affected with agoraphobia get
from one side OF court Co the 9TH
er by not only going around by the
wall and touching II all the way. but
squeezing herself up against II and
clutching at the bare surface. Suffer
ers from this malady cannot cross an
open space. They cannot venture more
than step or two from some vertical
surface. They feel no uneasineSs in n
colonnade. open all around them
thought il he. Their reason tells them
that their dread is groundleSs, but rea-
son is powerlesS against instinct. and
an imperious instinct shouts danger
In their ears
The opposite malady-clauStroph |
seems 10 me to reproduce state OF !
affairs OF much later occurrence in our |
racial history. When arboreal habits |
at length began TO be abandoned and |
our anthropoid ancestors began to shell |
ter themselves In hollow trees. in caves |
and holes in the ground. there must |
often have been a conflict between the |
UNNECESSARILY old. primitive habit OF |
roosting under the open sky and the |
modern innovation of taking shelter |
from the weather. The sense OF con- |
finement must have been very irksome. !
We may be sure that there was no sud |
den revolution In the mode of life The |
new habit WAS adopted very gradual |
ly. Only in some very violent storm |
would the first indwellers creep into n |
hole for shelter, and they would soon |
find their circumscribed quarters intol- |
cradle and brave the elements as soon |
rs the weather began TO moderate
Perhaps the new instinct was first |
implanted III the young 10y the parents |
bestowing their tender offspring in |
holes during their own absence or |
when coil and rain became severe. 1t |
is not easy To teach an old dog new |
tricks, but 4 young wild rabbit or |
squirrel taken at Il very early age |
from the nest never acquires the un-
tamable wildness that Is SO conSpicu-
Gus feature In the character of the |
old. In any case the habit OF taking |
shelter In more or less closed spaces |
was habi of slow and gradual ac-
Quirement. and we may be sure that 1t |
was not ACQUIRED without many re-
lapse and II my n backsliding We can
almost hear the jeers and SCOTS of the
stout old Tory anthropoids at the Of.
feminacy of their degenerate juniors,
who should seek n shelter that their
forefathe would have scorned. The
habit has not yet been fully acquired
by all our race, for we see even at this
late day many persons OF human status
to whom the shelter of a roof Is abhor.
rent and who prefer In the worst of
weather to lie out under hedge side
rather than submit TO the restraint OF
roof and walls.