Ochlophobia or Agoraphobia?
My recent decision to forgo a church home group activity put my severe distaste for crowded spaces in the spotlight. Avoidance had begun to impede my life more than I wanted. In an effort to find information that might help “put my avoidance in its place,” I discovered a vast array of explanations that served only to confuse the issue. Is it ochlophobia, enochlophobia, demophobia, agoraphobia or some other phobia? Undaunted by the sea of phobic disorders, my quest for an answer continued.
Ochlophobia
Also called enochlophobia or demophobia, ochlophobia is an abnormal or morbid fear of crowds or mobs. Information about it on the Internet is scarce. Endless links to near identical definitions, occasional references in personal blogs and lengthy phobia lists dominate the search results. Associated Content sports a short article on the subject by Barbara Burgess. A three and-a-half minute news clip by Russia Today newscast survives on YouTube. These are the only two noteworthy items in the first ten pages of search engine results under any of the three terms.
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia as defined by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) “involves intense fear and anxiety of any place or situation where escape might be difficult, leading to avoidance of situations such as being alone outside of the home; traveling in a car, bus, or airplane; or being in a crowded area.” In contrast to ochlophobia, many respectable resources about agoraphobia are available on the Internet.
Simply comparing the two definitions without supporting information did not alleviate any confusion. The following chart gives a brief overview of anxiety disorders in general. The article entitled, “Anxiety and Phobic Disorders” explains these disorders in more detail.
In our definition of agoraphobia we see several types of triggering events, but the list is not comprehensive nor is the type of event what determines whether a person has this phobic disorder. Agoraphobia’s hallmark is anxiety brought on by having little or no control over escape or flight from certain situations. These situations might include some, all, or none of the examples listed in our definition above. When agoraphobia is severe, progressive avoidance of triggering situations can lead the phobic person to becoming home-bound.
Ochlophobia, a fear of crowds, is a specific phobia that is situational in nature. A crowd usually does not pose any real threat of danger. If the anxiety level a person experiences is strong enough to effect regular avoidance of crowded situations, then the individual may have the phobic disorder known as ochlophobia.
Summary
Ochlophobia and agoraphobia are sub-types of phobic disorder, which is an anxiety disorder. Ochlophobia is a specific phobia of a crowd or mob, whereas agoraphobia is a combination of fears, or complex phobia, that may or may not include fear of being in a crowded space. When the anxiety is severe, both phobic disorders lead to avoidance behaviors. The key distinction: to qualify as agoraphobia, the person must have multiple anxieties, one of which is that his fear stems from having little or no control over escaping the feared situation(s).
Choices for treatment are discussed in the article, “Phobia Treatment Options.”
