agoraphobicadj.n.

1878 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 10 Aug. 2156/2 Dr. C. L. Mitchell tells me of a gentleman who was so badly agoraphobic that he was unable to leave his house without company, and accordingly he paid a man $20,000 to be his constant companion.

1884 Lancet 27 Dec. 1141/1 The giddiness which accompanies his agoraphobic attacks.

1936 A. Strachey tr. S. Freud Inhibitions vii. 89 An agoraphobic patient may be able to walk in the street provided he is accompanied..by someone he knows and trusts.

1967 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 113 1045/2 In the agoraphobic states which have figured so prominently in the psychiatric literature of recent years the most consistent and disabling features of the illness are frequently obscured by a strong, though temporary, depressive colouring.

2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 1 Oct. b2/2 They follow Pippi and the luggish Norbert.., a toll booth operator living unhappily with his agoraphobic wife of 20 years.

1898 Lancet 19 Nov. 1322/2 All the time that I was an ‘agoraphobic’ I attended church regularly with my family, but we always sat close to the door. There I was safe.

1910 Monthly Cycl. & Med. Bull. 3 644 The agoraphobics, monophobics, claustrophobics, those who are in a constant fear of being overtaken by various diseases, are continually in a condition of overwhelming anxiety.

1975 Times 10 Feb. 5/6 Some four-fifths of agoraphobics are women: symptoms usually start between the ages of 20 and 30.

2004 P. Hymers New Home Builder iii. 41 An agoraphobic would find the idea of open space living a frightening prospect.