FW: Terrorised by Terror/ Fearful of (open) space

Harrison Owen hhowen at verizon.net
Wed Apr 4 12:17:23 PDT 2007


 

"I wonder what the Psych Professor will make of this..."  I don't know
Brendan. But try him out and see if he is for real. And I think your take on
the subject is great. Who knows we may have a whole new genre of use for OS.
After all everybody did think we were a little nutty. And by the way I made
a video 17 years ago titled "Learning in Open Space" - Had great fun with
the Agora where we are told Socrates and the guys used to hang out.

 

ho

 

Harrison Owen

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Phone 301-365-2093

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Open Space Training  <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> www.openspaceworld.com


Open Space Institute  <http://www.openspaceworld.org/>
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Personal website  <http://www.ho-image.com/> www.ho-image.com 

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-----Original Message-----
From: Brendan McKeague [mailto:mckeague at iprimus.com.au] 
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 11:57 AM
To: hhowen at verizon.net
Subject: Re: Terrorised by Terror/ Fearful of (open) space

 

How interesting Harrison - just had a quick look at the origins of the word
- apparantly derived from the Greek word 'agora' meaning 'market
place'....so it literally means 'fear of the market place'...and, would you
believe, 'agoraphobics are not afraid of open spaces themselves, but of
having panic attacks as a result of being in certain locations' (according
to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agoraphobia, 
and 'another misconception is that agoraphobia is a fear of "crowded
spaces". Once again, an agoraphobic does not fear people: he or she rather
fears an embarrassing/dangerous situation with no escape. Some people with
agoraphobia are comfortable seeing visitors, but only in a defined space
they feel in control of. Such people may live for years without leaving
their homes, while happily seeing visitors and working, as long as they can
stay within their safety zones. The safety zones can vary, from not being
able to leave home, or not being able to make eye contact. If the person
leaves their 'safety zone' they can have an anxiety attack.
Furthermore...."agoraphobia can be successfully treated in many cases
through a very gradual process of graduated
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wiki/Graduated_exposure_therapy>  exposure
therapy combined with cognitive therapy
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wiki/Cognitive_therapy>  and sometimes
anti-anxiety <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wiki/Anti-anxiety>  or
antidepressant <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wiki/Antidepressant>
medications."

So - what do I make of all that.....
agoraphobics are afraid of losing control of their self-constructed safety
zones - and are susceptible to the onset of panic attacks.......entering an
Open Space market place provides them with 'graduated exposure therapy',
through an embodied experience, coupled with cognitive awareness of the
freedom to 'escape' from situations that might cause such anxieties...and
voila - the cure!  

I wonder what the Psych Professor will make of this...

Cheers
Brendan 


At 05:35 AM 4/04/2007, you wrote:

After all there is already a psychological name for it -- probably even a
diagnosis and
treatment. Last time I checked it was called "Agoraphobia." Yep -- we're in
the books as a clinical phenomenon. And maybe we even have the cure...???
Whoever said this was a sane group of people?????


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