The following list shows the types of surroundings that can provoke these fears.

FEAR OF THE SURROUNDINGS

• Public Places or Enclosed Spaces
• Confinement or Restriction of Movement
  • Streets
  • Barber's, hairdresser's, or dentist's chair
  • Stores
  • Lines in a store
  • Restaurants
  • Waiting for appointments
  • Theaters
  • Prolonged conversations in person or on the churches, phone
  • Crowds
• Travel
  • On trains, buses, planes, subways, cars
  • Over bridges, through tunnels
  • Being far away from home
• Remaining at Home Alone
• Open Spaces
  • Traffic
  • Parks
  • Fields
  • Wide streets
• Conflictual Situations
  • Arguments, interpersonal conflicts, expression of anger

The agoraphobic may avoid one or many of these situations as a way to feel safe. The need to avoid is so strong that some agoraphobics will quit their jobs, stop driving or taking public transportation, stop shopping or eating in restaurants, or, in the worst cases, never venture outside their home for years.

Listed below are the types of fearful thoughts associated with the dreaded situations. These are irrational, unproductive, and anxiety-producing thoughts which last anywhere from a few seconds to more than an hour. At the same time, they are the primary cause of agoraphobic behavior. These thoughts serve to perpetuate the agoraphobic's belief: "If I avoid these situations, I'll be safe."

FEARFUL THOUGHTS

• Fainting or collapsing in public
• Developing severe physical symptoms
• Losing control
• Becoming confused
• Being unable to cope
• Dying
• Causing a scene
• Having a heart attack or other physical illness
• Being unable to get home or to another "safe" place
• Being trapped or confined
• Becoming mentally ill
• Being unable to breathe