agoraphobia: in translation the fear of the marketplace, in practice the term for a range of anxiety disorders. first documented in the late 1800s, then “codified as an independent diagnostic entity” a century later, though largely comorbid with panic disorder. you can read all about it, if you like, in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fifth edition. dsm-5 for short. it’s always amused me, that title; it sounds like a movie francise. liked mental disorder 5? you’ll love the sequel!
page 26 of
The Woman in the Window,
paperback version, by
A.J. Finn